LEADER OF THE HOUSE

House of Lords: Powers

Andrew George: To ask the Leader of the House what plans he has to define the  (a) powers and  (b) functions of the House of Lords in future legislation.

Jack Straw: Following the vote in the House of Lords on 14 March 2007 on composition of a reformed House, I propose to reconvene the cross-party talks, which I chair, to assess the outcome of the debates in both Houses. The Government will consider the next move and I will return to this House to make a detailed statement on the way forward.

House of Lords: Reform

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Leader of the House if he will estimate the annual cost of a fully elected upper house.

John Redwood: To ask the Leader of the House 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the likely capital cost of new  (a) facilities and  (b) equipment for a reformed House of Lords;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the  (a) percentage and  (b) actual change in running costs likely to arise from a reformed House of Lords under each option outlined in the Motions debated on 6 and 7 March in the House.

Jack Straw: Detailed analysis will be provided once the proposals for a reformed House of Lords are much firmer. I propose to reconvene the cross-party group, which I chair, to assess the outcome of the debates in both Houses. I will discuss the issue within Government and will return to this House to make a detailed statement on the way forward.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many cattle were compulsorily slaughtered owing to bovine tuberculosis in each year since 1997, broken down by  (a) home country and  (b) county;
	(2)  how many  (a) cattle and  (b) herds were tested for bovine tuberculosis in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) home country and (ii) county.

Ben Bradshaw: I have arranged for the information requested to be placed in the Libraries of the House. Detailed county statistics for 1998-2005 are also available on the DEFRA website:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/stats/county.htm

Flood Control

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of  (a) creating natural wetlands,  (b) the restoration of natural flood plains and  (c) the use of vegetation and planting to trap and direct flood water; and what steps he is taking to encourage such methods;
	(2)  what area his Department added to existing  (a) natural wetland,  (b) restoration of natural flood plains and  (c) flood defence walls to prevent flooding in populated areas in each of the last three years for which records are available;
	(3)  how much his Department spent on the  (a) creation of natural wetland,  (b) restoration of natural flood plains and  (c) flood defence walls to prevent flooding in populated areas in each of the last three years for which records are available.

Ian Pearson: In 2004-05 and 2005-06 the Environment Agency spent £17.7 million on wetland habitat and species conservation in England and this included the creation of 943 hectares of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat, of which 809 hectares were floodplain habitats.
	Data collation on wetland habitat creation expenditure and delivery commenced in 2004-05 and the figures for 2006-07 are not yet available.
	From their records, the Environment Agency's direct expenditure on flood walls in each of the years 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 in completed major capital projects was £10.5 million, £13.7 million and £35 million respectively. The total construction cost of projects which included these walls was £31 million in 2003-04, £37.3 million in 2004-05 and £81.9 million in 2005-06.
	These costs relate only to major capital projects (those with a construction cost in excess of circa £250,000) undertaken by the Environment Agency that were completed during these periods.
	One of the aims of "Making Space for Water, the Government's strategy for flood and costal erosion risk management", is to work with natural processes and develop multiple objective approaches that deliver flood risk management and, where possible, other benefits such as environmental, amenity or regeneration.
	"Making Space for Water" provides the policy framework for more holistic approaches to flood and coastal erosion risk management. It is drawing on the lessons learnt within the regions at numerous freshwater and saline wetland creation sites. The creation of new targets (Outcome Measures), for all operating authorities, will ensure that habitat creation and the restoration of natural flood plains form a central part of future investment decision making.

Home Energy Efficiency Scheme

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding was allocated to the National Energy Efficiency scheme in each year since 1997.

Ian Pearson: While there is no single, national energy efficiency scheme, we do have a UK Energy Efficiency Action Plan (published in 2004). This brings together all of our separate funding streams and associated policies into a framework for improving energy efficiency across the business, public and household sectors. Energy efficiency policies deliver about half the carbon savings in our Climate Change Programme. Details on the funding for these various schemes is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Carbon Trust formed 2001  Energy Saving Trust  Warm front 2000 inception  Climate change communication  Community energy  UK emissions trading scheme 
			 1997-98 n/a 19.45 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1998-99 n/a 19 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1999-2000 n/a 22.57 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2000-01 n/a 21.97 (1)— n/a n/a n/a 
			 2001-02 (2)— 22.396 (1)— n/a n/a (3)— 
			 2002-03 (2)— 23.696 (1)— n/a 0.43 (3)— 
			 2003-04 (2)— 24.481 (1)— n/a 4.31 (3)— 
			 2004-05 (2)— 27.372 (1)— n/a 4.9 (3)— 
			 2005-06 (2)— 26.44 (1)— (4)12 5.24 (3)— 
			 (1) Total expenditure since 2000 now over £1.2 billion. (2) £207 million total expenditure from 2001-02 to 2005-06. (3) £215 million for five year programme. (4) For three year programme. 
		
	
	The funding information provided in the table is not the end of the story as our policies also help generate additional investment. For example, the Energy Efficiency Commitment, our key household policy lever, generated £600 million worth of energy efficiency investment in households in the first three year phase to 2005 alone. We are committed to an obligation on energy suppliers to at least 2020.

Pollution Control: Fees and Charges

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his estimate is of the average percentage of  (a) net profits and  (b) turnover for (i) small farms and (ii) large farms which is represented by the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Regulation charges of (A) £1,471 and (B) £1,844.

Ben Bradshaw: The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Regulation charges quoted are the pro rata charges which the Environment Agency would apply in respect of permits for intensive livestock installations issued in August 2007 covering the period to March 2008. The annual permit charges thereafter are currently set at £2,229 and £2,794 for small and large installations respectively.
	IPPC applies to intensive poultry rearing installations with places for more than 40,000 birds, and to intensive pig rearing installations with places for more than 2,000 production pigs or 750 sows. For charging purposes, any installation with places more than 10 times these thresholds is regarded as "large".
	Information on profits and turnover is held on a basis in which large farm businesses are those considered sufficient to occupy two or more standard labour requirements. Standard labour requirement (SLR) for a farm business represents the labour requirement (in full-time equivalents) for all the agricultural activities on the farm. All intensive livestock installations subject to IPPC are "large" in these terms.
	For poultry installations, annual charges for IPPC permits represent on average 0.2 per cent. of turnover and 5.0 per cent. of net profits, or 0.3 per Cent. and 6.2 per cent. respectively if it is a "large" installation for IPPC purposes. For pig installations, the corresponding figures are 0.4 per cent. and 3.5 per cent, or 0.5 per cent and 4.4 per cent.

Radioactive Materials: Floods

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment the Government has made of the potential  (a) environmental and  (b) public health consequences of (i) storm-related and (ii) sea-related flooding of a (A) nuclear power plant and (B) radioactive waste storage site.

Ian Pearson: Assessments of these flood risks are addressed as part of standard regulatory processes.
	The safety of nuclear installations in the UK is regulated by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII), which is part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Nuclear installations include all UK nuclear power plants and the Low Level Radioactive Waste Repository (LLWR) near to Drigg in Cumbria. Such installations must be licensed under the Nuclear Installations Act (1965). The safety of a nuclear plant is the responsibility of the licensee, who is required to submit to the NII a written demonstration of safety, the 'safety case'.
	NII requires that operators' safety cases address internal and external hazards, including various types of flooding. NII assesses the operators' safety cases to establish whether they are adequate. Safety cases are 'living documents' which are periodically reviewed and updated to reflect changing conditions. Changes in flood risk, whether due to changes in natural phenomena or man-made, are taken into account during such reviews.
	The environment agencies (the Environment Agency in England and Wales, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in Scotland) regulate disposals of radioactive waste. The environment agencies would require any applicant wishing to develop a proposed disposal facility to assess impacts from a wide range of events and processes including those such as coastal erosion. This is in order to demonstrate that risks associated with radioactivity and other potential hazards would be acceptably low. Impacts from coastal erosion were considered in some detail during a recent review of the radioactive waste disposal authorisation for the LLWR near to Drigg in Cumbria.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Northern Ireland Commissioner for Victims and Survivors

David Lidington: To ask the Solicitor-General what progress has been made in the inquiry by Peter Scott, QC into criticisms made by Mr. Justice Girvan of the Northern Ireland Office.

Mike O'Brien: Since I last updated the House, Mr. Scott has received a further 28 lever-arch files of documentation, bringing the total to 41 files. Most of the documents comprise the files maintained contemporaneously by the two departments concerned, and require careful scrutiny to identify those which are central to the matters which Mr. Scott is investigating.
	Mr. Scott has sent questionnaires to 17 potential witnesses and received responses from 14 of them to date. He expects to receive the outstanding responses by the middle of this month. There may be one or two other witnesses whom he will also want to question in due course.
	When he has completed his scrutiny of the documentation, Mr. Scott will interview any witness of whom he requires further information or clarification of their statement. Some of those interviews will take place in Belfast later this month and the remainder in London, probably in April and May. He will submit his report to the Attorney-General as soon as possible after completing those interviews and taking any steps which may emerge from them and are necessary to complete his report.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Courts: Salisbury

Robert Key: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when she expects  (a) construction to start on the new courthouses in Salisbury and  (b) the new courts to come into service.

Harriet Harman: We expect that construction on the new courthouse in Salisbury will commence by the end of July 2007, with the courts coming into service in the summer of 2009.

Judges: Housing

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will assess the merits of providing judges with an accommodation allowance per night to be spent either on lodgings or on hotel accommodation at their discretion; if she will estimate the change in costs which would result from the introduction of such a system; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: While the provision of judges' lodgings is kept under constant review, and the comparative cost of hotels considered, there is presently no intention to provide judges with an independent accommodation allowance while simultaneously running lodgings.

Judges: Housing

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what  (a) estimate she has made of the cost and  (b) assessment she has made of the merits of providing judges with hotel accommodation instead of judges' lodgings in each location where lodgings are situated; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: A straight comparison of the cost between housing judges in hotels or accommodating them in lodgings is not easily made. Judges' lodgings are an essential requirement for accommodating high court judges sitting outside of London. They provide a safe and secure environment and enable the judges to work in privacy and ensure confidentiality for extended periods, which hotels are unable to match except at prohibitive cost.

Judges: Housing

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will discontinue judges' lodgings where they are occupied by judges for less than 50 nights in the year; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: In the current locations where we have a requirement for less than 50 judge nights per year we do not own lodgings; instead we rent them.

Judges: Housing

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what changes to the  (a) arrangements for and  (b) availability of judges' lodgings have been made since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: The following are the major changes that have taken place since 1997:
	The lodgings at Mold was closed.
	The lodgings at Exeter, Lewes, Oxford and Truro have been replaced with better value accommodation.
	There have been a significant number of actions to reduce running costs including the removal of the outdated butler posts.
	A more cost-effective system for getting judges to court has been introduced using the Government Car and Despatch Agency.
	Introduction of new finance and accounting regimes reducing the management overheads of running the lodgings.

Judges: Housing

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which five judges' lodgings had  (a) the lowest occupancy in judge nights and  (b) the highest cost per judge night in the last period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: The five judges' lodgings with the lowest occupancy in judge nights during 2005-06 (all of which are hired, not owned) were Warwick, Caernarfon, Lincoln, Northampton and Worcester.
	The highest cost per judge night during 2005-06 were Maidstone, Swansea, Winchester, St. Albans and Chelmsford.
	The Maidstone lodging is being sold.

Judges: Housing

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which judges' lodgings are held  (a) freehold,  (b) leasehold and  (c) by other arrangements; what other such arrangements there are; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: A schedule showing rights of occupation is detailed as follows.
	
		
			  Property name  Freehold  Leasehold  Licence  Hiring 
			 Birmingham judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 Bristol judges' lodgings — v — — 
			 Caernarfon judges' lodgings — — v — 
			 Cardiff judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 Carlisle judges' lodgings — — v — 
			 Chelmsford judges' lodgings — — v — 
			 Chester judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 Exeter judges' lodgings — — v — 
			 Kingston Upon Hull — — — v 
			 Leeds judges' lodging — v — — 
			 Leicester judges' lodgings — — v — 
			 Lewes judges' lodging — — — v 
			 Lincoln judges' lodgings — — v — 
			 Liverpool judges' lodgings — v — — 
			 Maidstone judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 Manchester judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 Newcastle judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 Northampton judges' lodgings — — v — 
			 Norwich judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 Nottingham judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 Oxford judges' lodgings — — — v 
			 Plymouth judges' lodgings — — v — 
			 Preston judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 Reading judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 Sheffield judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 St. Albans Judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 Stafford judges' lodgings — — v — 
			 Swansea judges' lodgings v — — — 
			 Truro judges' lodgings — — — v 
			 Warwick judges' lodgings — — v — 
			 Winchester judges' lodgings — v — — 
			 Worcester judges' lodgings — — v —

Judges: Housing

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what discussions she has held with the judiciary on the  (a) cost and  (b) future of judges' lodgings; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: My officials are in regular discussion with the judiciary regarding both the cost and future of judges' lodgings.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Art: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Government funding local artists in Lancashire received in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: The following table shows the Arts Council's funding commitments to local artists in Lancashire between 2003-04 and 2005-06. Local artists are defined as individual artists living in Lancashire. Grant in aid funding information for individual artists in the years preceding 2003-04 is not available.
	
		
			   Grant in aid (£) 
			 2003-04 41,021 
			 2004-05 134,501 
			 2005-06 83,522

Art: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent on arts projects in Lancashire in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: The following table shows the Arts Council's funding commitments to arts projects in Lancashire between 2001-02 and 2005-06. Arts projects are defined as time-limited activities. Grant in aid funding information for time-limited projects in the years preceding 2003-04 is not available.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Grant in Aid  Lottery  Total 
			 2001-02 — 1,116,512 1,116,512 
			 2002-03 — 424,326 424,326 
			 2003-04 41,021 1,518,624 1,559,645 
			 2004-05 137,511 1,251,303 1,388,814 
			 2005-06 59,514 951,811 1,011,325

Culture: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many  (a) museums and  (b) theatres (i) opened and (ii) closed in Lancashire in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: No Arts Council England-funded theatres have opened or closed in Lancashire in any of the last five years. Information on local authority funded museums and theatres, or independent museums and theatres, is not held centrally.

Departments: Work Permits

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many work permits were applied for by  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: During the last five years, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has applied for only one work permit. The Royal Parks, which is an agency of the Department, has applied for no work permits during the last five years.

Gaming Clubs

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of the hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire of 28 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1403W, on gaming clubs, which of the members appointed to the Casino Advisory Panel had skills and experience at a senior and strategic level in the regeneration of disadvantaged areas.

David Lammy: holding answer 12 March 2007
	Biographical details of the five individuals selected to become the Chair and members of the Casino Advisory Panel were included in the press release, issued on 30 September 2005, which announced the establishment of the Panel.
	The press release is available on the Panel's website at www.culture.gov.uk/cap <http://www.culture.gov.uk/cap>. Copies have been placed in the House Library.

Gaming Clubs: Licensing

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether a more detailed record is available of the meetings of the Casino Advisory Panel of 8 and 15 November 2006 in respect of which minutes have already been made available.

David Lammy: holding answer 12 March 2007
	The minute of the Casino Advisory Panel's meeting of 8 and 15 November 2006, (a single meeting which lasted two days), which is available on the Panel's website at www.culture.gov.uk/cap <http://www. culture.gov.uk/cap>, is the full record of that meeting. I am arranging for copies of the minute to be placed in the House Libraries.

Gaming Clubs: Licensing

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what basis the Casino Advisory Panel made its assessment of willingness to license in respect of applicants in the regional casino category.

David Lammy: holding answer 12 March 2007
	The basis on which the Casino Advisory Panel made its assessment of willingness to license in respect of applicants in the regional casino category is set out in paragraphs 105 and 106 of its final report to the Secretary of State. The report is available on the Panel's website at www.culture.gov.uk/cap <http://www.culture.gov.uk/cap> and copies have been placed in the House Library.

Lotteries: Licensing

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost was of a licence for  (a) remote and  (b) non-remote lottery in (i) 2004-05, (ii) 2005-06 and (iii) 2006-07; and if she will re-open consultation with the Lotteries Council and the Hospice Lotteries Association on the cost of lottery licences.

David Lammy: The information is set out as follows:
	
		
			  Lotteries fees( 1)  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 >£200,000(2) 454 468 487 
			 >£50,000(2) 303 312 324 
			 >£20,000(2) 104 107 111 
			 >£10,000(2) 104 107 111 
			 <£10,000(2) 104 107 111 
			 Registration Fee (Society) 4,810 4,954 5,152 
			 Registration Fee (Local Authority) 4,810 4,954 5,152 
			 Renewal Fee (Local Authority and Society) 188 194 202 
			 Lottery Manager 14,850 15,295 15,907 
			 (1 )Licence fees were set under the provisions Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 and were payable for non-remote licences only. (2) Lottery with turnover (total value of tickets sold).  Note: Under the Gambling Act 2005, licence fees are payable for both non-remote and remote provision. 
		
	
	
		
			   Application fees (from 1 January 2007) 
			   Non-remote  Remote 
			  Operating licence type  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H 
			 Society lotteries 165 247 329 — — 165 247 329 
			 Lottery Manager 988 1,647 2,306 — — 988 1,647 2,306 
		
	
	
		
			   Annual fees (from 1 September 2007) 
			   Non-remote  Remote 
			  Operating licence type  A  B  C  D  E  F  C  H 
			 Society lotteries 348 692 1,392 — — 2,72 4,370 6,361 
			 Lottery Manager 1,981 2,261 2,541 — — 12,733 34,176 66,341 
		
	
	Following representations from the Lotteries Council and the Hospice Lotteries Association, the Department has accepted advice from the Gambling Commission that the level of annual remote fees for society lotteries should be lowered to the same level as non-remote society operators i.e. £348, £692 and £1,392. The Department intends to lay amending regulations in April.

Millennium Dome

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (John Hemming) of 24 April 2006,  Official Report, column 898W, on the Millennium Dome, what the cost was of the Millennium Dome to public funds in each year since its inception.

Richard Caborn: Information on the grants from national lottery funds which were made by the Millennium Commission to the New Millennium Experience Co. (NMEC), are set out in the following table.
	
		
			  National lottery grant 
			   £ million 
			 1997-98 499 
			 1998-99 0 
			 1999-2000 60 
			 2000-01 119 
			 2001-02 0 
			 2002-03 0 
			 2003-04 0 
			 2004-05 (1)0 
			 2005-06 (2)0 
			 2006-07 (3)0 
			 (1) £24 million—unrequired funds decommitted from NMEC by the Millennium Commission for use on other projects. (2) £1 million—unrequired funds decommitted from NMEC by the Millennium Commission for use on other projects. (3) £3 million—unrequired funds decommitted from NMEC by the Millennium Commission for use on other projects. 
		
	
	In addition, English Partnerships has been meeting management, maintenance, security and other costs at the site from 1 July 2001, and will continue to do so until the redevelopment of the arena by the Anschutz Entertainment Group is completed, expected in summer 2007, at which time Anschutz takes on full responsibility for the dome structure and its immediate surroundings.
	All of English Partnerships' costs (gross total of around £32 million to date) from July 2001 to the completion of the arena's construction, and including the costs of the entire sale process, are expected to be recovered from sale proceeds, forecast at £550 million over the period of the deal, which lasts for around another 19 years.
	The year-by-year English Partnerships maintenance and other costs to date have been as follows:
	
		
			  English Partnerships maintenance and other costs 
			   £ million 
			 2001-02 2.299 
			 2002-03 2.952 
			 2003-04 2.586 
			 2004-05 1.726 
			 2005-06 0.364 
			 2006-07 (1)0.294 
			 Total 10.238 
			 (1) Figures to December 2006. 
		
	
	In addition, English Partnerships spent £6.7 million on decommissioning some of the dome's contents, £0.558 million on a one-off payment for insurance and £14.5 million on the sale process between March 1999 and June 2004.

Museums and Galleries: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people visited museums in Lancashire in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: As part of the 'Best Value' framework for assessing service delivery at the local government level, single tier and county councils report visits to/usage of museums per thousand of the population. The definitions used in Best Value Performance Indicator 170 (BV170) can be downloaded from the website of the Department for Communities and Local Government at:
	<http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1136118>
	and the data provided by local authorities in any given year can be downloaded from the Audit Commission's website at:
	<http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/performance/dataprovision.asp>

Museums and Galleries: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much museums in Lancashire received in Government funding in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: Museums are a discretionary local authority service and their core funding is a matter for Lancashire county council and the 12 district councils in Lancashire.
	Excluding lottery funding, the Department through the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) has provided the following sums to museums within the Lancashire county council geographical area that are responsible for collections of nationally significant cultural items (designated collections):
	
		
			  Grants to museums with designated collections in Lancashire 
			   £000 
			 2005-06 36.1 
			 2004-05 36.1 
			 2003-04 35.0 
			 2002-03 35.0 
			 2001-02 95.0 
		
	
	The Department also sponsors the National Football Museum in Preston and has provided them with the following annual sums:
	
		
			  Grant to the national football museum 
			   £000 
			 2005-06 100 
			 2004-05 100 
			 2003-04 100 
			 2002-03 (1)n/a 
			 2001-02 (1)n/a 
			 (1) The museum was not sponsored by DCMS prior to 2003-04. 
		
	
	The Harris Museum and Art Gallery is also one of five partner institutions in the North-West Hub of the Renaissance Programme for regional museums. In total, this North-West Renaissance Hub has received the following funding:
	
		
			  Grant in aid to the north west renaissance hub through the MLA 
			   £000 
			 2005-06 1,402 
			 2004-05 820 
			 2003-04 220 
			 2002-03 10 
			 2001-02 (1)n/a 
			 (1) Prior to the renaissance programme.

Public Buildings: Lighting

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidance she has issued on the exterior lighting of public buildings of cultural significance.

David Lammy: The Department has not issued guidance on the exterior lighting of public buildings of cultural significance. However, English Heritage is developing standards and guidelines on lighting historic buildings for its own properties and for general guidance, which is due to be published later this year.

Theatre: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Government funding theatres in Lancashire received in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: Government funding for the arts is distributed, within broad guidelines, through Arts Council England. The following figures supplied by Arts Council England provide a breakdown of the information requested.
	
		
			  Arts Council England grant in aid funding to theatre, Lancashire 
			  £ 
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Dukes Playhouse 261,330 340,000 470,000 481,752 493,796 
			 Horse and Bamboo Theatre Company 67,486 77,609 93,131 106,331 115,960 
			 Nuffield Theatre — 10,000 60,000 61,500 63,040 
			 Rose Theatre — 8,000 8,000 8,200 8,408 
			 Total 328,816 435,609 631,131 657,783 681,204 
		
	
	
		
			  Arts Council England lottery funding to theatre and drama activities, Lancashire 
			  £ 
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Arts Capital Programme 460,000 — — — — 
			 Regional Arts Lottery Programme 51,097 29,578 — — — 
			 National Touring Programme — 25,550 — — — 
			 Grants to individuals — — 6,581 3,370 9,330 
			 Grants to organisations — — 92,966 149,642 135,515 
			 Touring grants — — 69,609 5,000 4,400 
			 Total 511,097 55,128 169,156 158,012 149,245

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made in making the range of drugs relevant to HIV/AIDS available to people in the poorest countries; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: The international effort to achieve universal access has helped boost the numbers on anti-retroviral drugs (ARV) treatment. In sub-Saharan Africa, the numbers on treatment rose 10-fold from 2003 to 2006 from 100,000 to over 1 million. This is equivalent to 23 per cent. of those needing treatment. Similarly, the number of sites where people can receive treatment has increased significantly, including in Malawi and Zambia where there has been increases of 20 and 30-fold respectively. As of 1 December 2006, Global Fund-supported programmes have put 770,000 people on ARV treatment for HIV. This represents more than one-quarter of the 3 million people on ARV worldwide and is 28 per cent. greater than the Global Fund targets for 2006.
	The UK has already pledged to spend £1.5 billion on AIDS programmes between 2005 and 2008: this reflects our commitment to Universal Access. Despite this progress, much still needs to be done. In addition to funding AIDS programmes, we are supporting UNITAID, the new international drug purchasing facility, to fund second-line ARV, paediatric ARVs and TB and malaria drugs predominantly to low income countries. It is hoped that this mechanism will contribute to the necessary reductions in the prices of second-line drugs such as lopinavir/ritonavir and tenofovir (Viread and Kaletra). The UK Government are also helping strengthen the World Health Organisation (WHO) medicines pre-qualification process through UNITAID, in order to speed up the availability of new second-line ARV products. WHO's pre-qualification process is a critical block for low income countries using new ARVs, with a long backlog of medicines seeking pre-approval. The additional funding will accelerate the process.

Disaster Relief: Education

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to ensure that education provision is included within the first phase in all humanitarian responses.

Hilary Benn: The first task of responding to a disaster should be meeting the priority needs of affected communities; i.e. emergency shelter, food, and water and sanitation facilities.
	Following a disaster, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator oversees needs assessments carried out by the lead UN agency for each humanitarian sector. These are used to draw up global "flash appeals" to raise funding from donors.
	Under the reform of the international humanitarian system, nine sectors which are deemed to be under-serviced in humanitarian response have become "clusters", co-ordinated by a UN cluster lead who is allocated funds from a global cluster appeal in order to fulfil their leadership role. While education is not currently formally a cluster, in December 2006, the Inter Agency Standing Committee (consisting of the key UN and non-UN humanitarian partners) agreed that the cluster approach would be applied to the education sector, under UNICEF's lead. Education will also be included in the 2007 global cluster appeal.
	In countries, this means that following a disaster, UNICEF will present a request for funding for the education sector, based on humanitarian need, to the humanitarian co-ordinator to include in the flash appeal. Where education is deemed to be a priority need, the humanitarian co-ordinator will highlight this and it will be up to donors to provide adequate funding.

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much the UK has contributed to the Global Fund to help poor countries fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Gareth Thomas: The UK has committed £359 million to the Global Fund over seven years (2002-08) including £100 million for 2006 and the same for 2007, subject to performance. The UK is now the fifth largest donor for the period 2006-07 (after the US, France, Japan and Italy) and the third largest in the EU. The UK's current share of Global Fund contributions is around 8 per cent.

Latin America: Overseas Aid

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to improve lives in Latin America.

Gareth Thomas: DFID's goal is to reduce poverty and inequality in Latin America in line with the international community's commitment to help achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs) by 2015. DFID's main financial contributions to Latin America are through direct contributions to the multilateral institutions: the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Commission and United Nations. DFID also has a bilateral programme for Latin America (£11 million in 2006-07). The purpose of this programme is to enhance the overall impact of the international system in the region. DFID's assistance to Latin America from 2004-07 is set out in the document entitled "Regional Assistance Plan", copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
	DFID is working with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank, helping them to tackle social exclusion and to provide access to markets and international trade. Efforts are being made to provide accountable and responsive public sector management and effective political systems. DFID also works to improve donor coordination in support of government-led poverty reduction strategies and also to improve regional, analysis and lesson sharing to achieve trade policies that better reflect the impact of trade on poverty and inequality. In the health sector it focuses on improved quality and effectiveness of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care drawing from regional organisations working with the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria.
	DFID is also providing a further £7 million a year to British NGOs working in Latin America under Partnership Programme Agreements with DFID, and funding projects through the Civil Society Challenge Fund.
	DFID's programme in Latin America provides flexible and responsive funding and seeks to pilot innovative new approaches. It works with others, for example the UN and international NGOs, to facilitate cooperation between civil society organisations and the World Bank and IDB. It collaborates closely with the complementary programmes of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and the British Council.
	Through the UK Government's Global Conflict Prevention Pool, DFID, alongside the FCO and the Ministry of Defence (MOD), supports security sector reform and small arms and light weapons reduction. The overall aim is to reduce armed violence, establish effective and appropriate rule of law in the region, and provide the security needed to enable development.

Nepal

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what  (a) humanitarian,  (b) economic and  (c) military assistance the UK is providing to Nepal.

Gareth Thomas: The information is as follows.
	 Humanitarian assistance
	DFID monitors the humanitarian situation in Nepal jointly with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and other international bodies. In 2006-07 DFID provided £400,000 to UNOCHA to facilitate its leadership in this monitoring role, plus to support its coordination of the international response to emerging and ongoing humanitarian crises.
	In November 2006 DFID funded a detailed food security assessment by the Government of Nepal and UN agencies. In response to this assessment, DFID has contributed £250,000 to WFP's current emergency operation in the Karnali region of western Nepal.
	DFID's overall contribution to humanitarian coordination and assistance in Nepal during this financial year has been £700,000.
	 Economic assistance
	DFID is spending £36 million on development aid to Nepal in 2006-07. This is funding several major programmes that support economic growth, either directly or indirectly. Local livelihoods and economic activity in rural areas are being supported through DFID's Community Support Programme, the Livelihood and Forestry Programme, the Rural Access Programme and Agriculture support programme. In addition, we contribute to the cost of national government programmes in health and education, which increases spending and human development, which in turn will increase economic growth and create a better environment for investment. Finally, DFID's support to Maoist cantonments, the re-establishment of law and order, upcoming national elections and political inclusion initiatives are helping to build the legitimacy of the state and stabilise the country, which is vital for investment and growth.
	 Military assistance
	The UK supports the transition of the Nepal Army to a regular professional army under civilian control. We are working with the Government of Nepal to develop appropriate structures, including a strengthened Ministry of Defence, to help achieve this. We do not supply lethal equipment to the Nepal Army and have no plans to do so. We are assisting with training and equipment to strengthen the Nepal Army's ability to undertake mine clearance.
	As part of the peace process, the UK is also supporting the establishment of temporary camps for Maoist combatants, and is funding the United Nations Mission in Nepal to conduct the registration and verification of Maoist arms and combatants.

Nepal

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to prevent the spread of AIDS in Nepal.

Gareth Thomas: DFID Nepal has been at the forefront of Nepal's response to HIV/AIDS. In October 2005, DFID commenced a five-year, £15-million programme in support of the national HIV/AIDS programme. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) manages DFID's support in conjunction with their management of grants from the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria. DFID is currently the second major donor to the national HIV/AIDS programme, contributing 24 per cent. of the programme's resources from mid-2006 to mid-2008. DFID support is aligned to the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and its corresponding Plan.
	DFID supports 73 projects through 59 NGOs or community-based organisations in 27 of Nepal's 75 districts. DFID is the lead donor in support of services to: mobile populations; injecting drug users; people living with HIV/AIDS; prison populations; men having sex with men and male sex workers. The activities implemented range from information and awareness; peer education; voluntary counselling and HIV testing; harm reduction (including rehabilitation); care and support to people living with HIV/AIDS and safe blood supply.
	In addition to bilateral assistance, DFID also supports prevention and treatment to Nepali migrants in Nepal and India through the Asia Regional Poverty Fund, a three-year, £2 million project which commenced in February 2006.
	Over the last three years, DFID has worked closely with the Government of Nepal (GON), the UN agencies and the World Bank to develop the Three Ones: one policy and programme, one national co-ordination body and one monitoring and evaluation framework.
	DFID plans to increase its policy engagement in HIV/AIDS. This will be focused on supporting the establishment of a national multi-sectoral semi-independent unit which can manage the programme, improve fund-flow to communities and attract more resources.

Overseas Aid: AIDS

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on AIDS-related work in 2005-06; and how much has been spent in 2006-07.

Gareth Thomas: DFID spent £385 million in tackling HIV and AIDS in 2005-2006, an increase of almost 30 per cent. on the 2004-05 figure of £298 million. Figures for 2006-07 are not yet available. These figures were released as part of a draft report on an interim evaluation of 'Taking Action - the UK Government's strategy for tackling HIV and AIDS in the developing World' available on DFID's website at www.dfid.gov. As part of this strategy DFID remains committed to spending £1.5 billion on tackling HIV and AIDS over the three years to 2007-08.

TRANSPORT

Biofuels

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the importance of long-term security in attracting investment to develop biofuel production capacity.

Stephen Ladyman: We fully recognise the importance of long-term security in attracting investment to develop biofuel production capacity in the UK. We believe that the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation will provide a high degree of investor confidence in biofuels, and there are already signs that it is leading to increased investment in new biofuel production capacity, with a number of new plants due to come on stream very shortly.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average time was for calls to Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency local office helplines to be answered in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of callers discontinued calls before they were answered.

Stephen Ladyman: Fiscal year to date figures for DVLA's local office help line shows average speed of answer is 18 seconds. The number of calls discontinued while queuing to advisors is 0.87 per cent.

Driving Offences: Cellular Phones

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the risks of driving while using a hands-free mobile telephone; what research his Department has conducted on the effects on the chance of being in a crash of using a hands-free mobile telephone; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what research he has conducted on the level of mobile telephone usage by motorists while driving according to  (a) gender,  (b) age,  (c) region and  (d) type of car owned.

Stephen Ladyman: A report prepared for the Department and published in 1997 reviewed the use of mobile phones by drivers. TRL Report 318, "The use of mobile phones while driving: a review" is available from TRL Ltd (www.trl.co.uk).
	The Department has not needed to undertake its own further research into the risks of using any mobile phone because research by others adequately covers the subject and confirms that there is little difference in the distraction whether a hand-held or hands-free mobile phone is used. The Department's consistent advice, for example in the Highway code and the THINK Road Safety campaign, has been that mobile phones of any type should not be used while driving.
	The research is conveniently summarised in the report of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones "Mobile Phones and Health", published in 2000—see paragraphs 5.201 to 5.214, pages 86 to 90 for a summary of research worldwide—available online at: www.iegmp.org.uk/report/text.htm.
	The Direct Line Insurance report published in 2002 (available at http://info.directline.com/xxx/news.nsf/64125738690474fe00256a6f003a151b/bec9c738833c 7fb180256b84002dec5f/$FlLE/Mobile%20Phone%20 Report.pdf) compares the effect on reaction times from the use of mobile phones with the effect of alcohol. The research underlying the Direct Line report is published as TRL Report 547 available from www.trl.co.uk.
	Research completed in 2003 for the Department of Health's Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research programme "Conversations in Cars: The Relative Hazards of Mobile Phones" is expected to be published shortly—available from www.trl.co.uk.
	Surveys for the Department on the level of mobile phone use are undertaken twice yearly. The most recently published report "Mobile Phone use by drivers, 2004-06"—report Lf2100—can be downloaded from www.trl.co.uk/store/report_list.asp?pid=211. Surveys are not undertaken regionally but surveys sites are considered representative of the full range of conditions on British roads. They do not attempt to include gender, age and type of car because there is no need for such information.

Level Crossings: Hampshire

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the locations are of half barrier level crossings in Hampshire; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Harris: This is an operational matter for Network Rail. The hon. Member should contact John Armitt, the Chief Executive, at 40 Melton Street, London, NW1 2EE.

Level Crossings: Hampshire

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps either to remove or to upgrade the half barrier level crossings in Hampshire; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Harris: Any changes would need to be proposed by Network Rail and agreed by the Office of Rail Regulation, the health and safety regulator for the railway. All level crossings of whatever type are adequately safe when used correctly.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what  (a) cost and  (b) profit components are contained in the convenience charge of £2.50 that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency levies on online credit card payments of vehicle excise duty.

Stephen Ladyman: The £2.50 charge for using the credit card for online re-licensing transactions is calculated to cover the specific full costs of providing the credit card as a payment option and is subject to review on an annual basis. No profit element is built into the charge. The charge covers two distinct types of cost:
	Credit Card company costs relating to the charges applied for processing credit card payments;
	DVLA operating costs relating to the process of credit card payments, credit card enquiries and the investigation of disputed payments.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many registered cars there were in 1997; and how many there are in 2007.

Stephen Ladyman: The latest statistical series on the number of licensed cars and cars registered for the first time were published in Tables. 1b and 12b of Vehicle Licensing Statistics 2005. A copy of this report, published on 18 May 2006, was placed in the House of Commons Library and it is also available at:
	http://www.dft.gov.Uk/pqr/statistics/datatablespublications/vehicles/licensing/coll_vehiclelicensingstatistics2/vehiclelicensingstatistics2005

Network Rail

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what work has been undertaken to upgrade the East Coast Mainline since 1997;
	(2)  what work has been undertaken to upgrade the Great Western Mainline since 1997.

Tom Harris: These are operational matters for Network Rail, as the owner and operator of the national rail network. The hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell should contact Network Rail's Chief Executive for a response to his question:
	John Armitt
	Chief Executive
	Network Rail
	40 Melton Street
	London NW1 2EE

Ports: Liverpool

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the Olive Mount Chord project at the port of Liverpool to be completed; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Harris: The project to re-instate the Olive Mount Chord is being promoted by a variety of parties including the Northern Way and Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, working with Network Rail. The completion date for the scheme is a matter for Network Rail and the proposers.

Railways: Construction

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of new railway line he plans to be constructed in each of the next five years.

Tom Harris: In July the Secretary of State for Transport will publish a High Level Output Specification for England and Wales. This will set out the railway improvements the Government wishes to buy in terms of capacity, safety and reliability, and the funding to support this for the five-year period from April 2009. It will be for the rail industry to determine what inputs are required to deliver this.

Railways: Freight

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many rail freight routes to major ports have been upgraded since 1997.

Tom Harris: This is an operational matter for Network Rail, as the owner and operator of the national rail network. The hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell should contact Network Rail's Chief Executive for a response to his question:
	John Armitt
	Chief Executive
	Network Rail
	40 Melton Street
	London NW1 2EE

Railways: Greater London

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many new railway lines into and in London for which his Department has responsibility have been built since 1997.

Tom Harris: This is an operational matter for Network Rail, as the owner and operator of the national rail network. The hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell should contact Network Rail's Chief Executive for a response to his question:
	John Armitt
	Chief Executive
	Network Rail
	40 Melton Street
	London NW1 2EE

Railways: Overcrowding

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the rates of overcrowding on  (a) South West trains and  (b) national network trains were in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Harris: Data to which the Department has access is limited to Passengers in Excess of Capacity (PIXC), a measure which applies to weekday commuter trains arriving in London between 7 am and 9.59 am and departing London between 4 pm and 6.59 pm.
	The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) publishes PIXC figures in its National Rail Trends publication. The most recent edition, covering 2005, was published on 5 July 2006.
	The document is on the internet at the following address: http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/294.pdf and has been made available in the Library of the House.

Road Traffic

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many new bypasses on trunk roads and local roads have been built since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: 66 Highways Agency trunk road (over £5 million) and local authority bypass schemes have been completed between 1997 and March 2007 as listed in the following table:
	
		
			   Scheme 
			 1997 Parkeston Bypass Stage 1, Phase 1A, Essex 
			  Averham Bypass, Nottinghamshire 
			  A256 Whitfield to Eastry/Whitfield Bypass 
			  A413 Wendover Bypass, Bucks 
			   
			 1998 Werrington/Glinton Bypass, Cambridgeshire 
			  Parkeston Bypass Stage 1, Phase 1B, Essex 
			  A15/A16 Market Deeping Bypass, Lincolnshire 
			  A16 Peakes Parkway (North East Lincolnshire) 
			  A1058 Cradlewell Bypass, Newcastle 
			  A228 Hale Street Bypass, Kent 
			  A289 Wainscott Bypass, Kent 
			  Tingewick Bypass, Bucks 
			   
			 1999 Dudley Southern Bypass 
			   
			 2000 A617 Rainworth Bypass, Nottinghamshire 
			   
			 2001 A174 Skelton and Brotton Bypass 
			  Burntwood Bypass Phase 1 and 2, Staffordshire 
			  A151 Weston Bypass 
			  A151 Weston Bypass, Lincolnshire (part ERDF funded) 
			  C541 Addlethorpe Bypass and Bend Improvement, Lincolnshire (part ERDF funded) 
			   
			 2002 A143 Broome-Ellingham Bypass 
			  A131 Great Leighs Bypass 
			  A6023 Denaby Main Diversion 
			  A511 Ashby Bypass 
			  A27 Polegate Bypass 
			  A43 Silverstone Bypass 
			  JA6 Clapham Bypass 
			  A66 Stainburn and Great Clifton Bypass 
			  Wyre Piddle Bypass, Worcestershire 
			  A428 Crick Bypass (developer funded) 
			  Parkeston Bypass Stage 2, Essex (developer funded) 
			   
			 2003 A350 Semington-Melksham Diversion 
			  Barnsley Coalfields Link Road (aka Shafton Bypass) 
			  A6 Great Glen Bypass 
			  A53 Hodnet Bypass 
			  A5 Nesscliffe Bypass 
			  A500 Basford, Hough and Shavington Bypass 
			  A6 Rothwell-Desborough Bypass 
			  A6 Rushden and Higham Ferrers Bypass 
			  A6 Alvaston Bypass 
			  A650 Bingley Relief Road (aka Bypass) 
			  A4146 Stoke Hammond and Linslade Bypass (Northern Section) 
			  A41 Aston Clinton Bypass 
			  A527 Biddulph Inner Bypass 
			  Ashton-Under-Lyne Northern Bypass (Greater Manchester) 
			  A130 Southern Section (A132-A127), Essex (PFI) 
			   
			 2004 St. Clements Way, Thurrock (aka West Thurrock Marshes Relief Road) 
			  A607 Rearsby Bypass 
			  Mansfield Ashfield Regeneration Route 
			  A63 Selby Bypass 
			  A10 Wadesmill Colliers End 
			   
			 2005 A167 Chilton Bypass 
			  A21 Lamberhurst Bypass 
			  A47 Thorney Bypass 
			  A142 Fordham Bypass 
			  Gloucester South West Bypass (Castlemeads section) 
			  A158 Coastal Access Improvement Phase 1—Partney Bypass 
			  A428 West Haddon Bypass (developer funded) 
			  A57 Cadishead Way (Brinell Drive to City Boundary) (Greater Manchester) 
			  Burntwood Bypass Phase 3, Staffordshire 
			  A16/A158 Partney Bypass, Lincolnshire 
			   
			 2006 A505 Baldock Bypass, Hertfordshire 
			   
			 2007 Barford Bypass, Warwickshire 
			  A606 Oakham Bypass, Rutland 
			  A197 Pegswood Bypass 
			  A58 Blackbrook Diversion 
			  A421 Great Barford Bypass

Roads: Accidents

Robert Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road fatalities were caused by defective vehicles in each year from 1997 to 2006.

Stephen Ladyman: In 2005 there were 91 fatalities resulting from reported personal injury road accidents which involved vehicle defects as a contributory factor.
	Contributory factor data were not collected prior to 2005, and 2006 data will be published in summer 2007.

Roads: Construction

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many kilometres of new road lanes, including widening projects, have been built since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: The following table shows the number of kilometres of new road lanes that have been built since 1997.
	
		
			   Lane km added to HA network 
			 1997-98. 433 
			 1998-99 107 
			 1999-2000 38 
			 2000-01 117 
			 2001-02 0 
			 2002-03 224 
			 2003-04 450 
			 2004-05 191 
			 2005-06 89 
			 2006-07 77 
			 Total 1,726

Roads: Noise

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many lane kilometres of the motorway and trunk road network have been resurfaced with a lower noise surface since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: The Highways Agency's policy to use quieter surfacing materials as a matter of course whenever a road is resurfaced has been in place since 2001. Given this, we have no separately recorded information on quieter surfacing delivered prior to this date.
	A total of 8,240 lane kilometres (lkms) of quieter surfacing were delivered between 2000-01 and 2005-06. The agency is forecasting to deliver a further 1,100 lkms during 2006-07.

Speed Limits: Cameras

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road safety cameras there are in each London borough.

Stephen Ladyman: The following table lists the number of safety camera sites in each highway authority in London.
	
		
			  Highway authority  Number 
			 Barking and Dagenham 7 
			 Bexley 14 
			 Brent 18 
			 Bromley 9 
			 Camden 3 
			 City of London 3 
			 Croydon 23 
			 Ealing 6 
			 Enfield 11 
			 Greenwich 6 
			 HA 6 
			 Hackney 11 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 7 
			 Haringey 7 
			 Harrow 12 
			 Havering 10 
			 Hillingdon 17 
			 Hounslow 3 
			 Islington 15 
			 Kingston 9 
			 Lambeth 2 
			 Lewisham 2 
			 Merton 6 
			 Newham 10 
			 Redbridge 7 
			 Richmond 3 
			 Southwark 14 
			 Sutton 3 
			 TLRN 415 
			 Tower Hamlets 3 
			 Waltham Forest 6 
			 Wandsworth 1 
			 Westminster 12 
			  Notes: 1. The numbers shown are for sites operated within the National Safety Camera Programme. 2. The numbers include both fixed and mobile speed camera sites and red-light cameras. 
		
	
	The London Safety Camera Partnership holds more detailed information on these sites, including maps, accessible via their website at www.lscp.org.uk

Tolls

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his latest estimate is of the timetable for the introduction of a national road user pricing scheme.

Stephen Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 19 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1760W.

Tolls

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress made towards a national system of road pricing.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 9 March 2007
	The Government called for a national debate on road pricing in 2005 and this is now happening.
	While no decision has been taken on whether in the future to establish a national scheme of road pricing, the Government are working with interested local authorities who are exploring the scope for developing local schemes as part of a wider package of transport measures, to tackle local congestion.
	It is only in the light of the development of such schemes that any decision about national road pricing could be considered.

Tolls: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to introduce a pilot scheme for road charging in Lancashire; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: It would be for Lancashire to decide whether to put forward proposals for a local road pricing pilot scheme. 10 areas have been awarded pump-priming funding to support the development of Transport Innovation Fund packages that address local congestion problems by combining demand management, including road pricing, with better public transport. Lancashire is not one of these areas.

DEFENCE

Air Force: Calendars

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of creating the 2007 Royal Air Force desktop calendar.

Derek Twigg: A total of 1,700 calendars were produced at a VAT inclusive cost of £2,687.22. This equates to a single unit cost of £1.58.

Armed Forces: Health Services

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much funding the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court has received in each year since 2001; and from which top level budget holder the funding came.

Derek Twigg: Information on funding in the financial year 2001-02 is not readily available. For subsequent years, annual expenditure on the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre has been identified as follows:
	
		
			  Financial year  £ million (actual costs) 
			 2002-03 10.29 
			 2003-04 10.43 
			 2004-05 9.44 
			 2005-06 10.75 
			 2006-07 (1)12.84 
			 (1) Current estimate of expenditure for full financial year. 
		
	
	The sums listed represent the bulk of the operating costs and capital expenditure for the year in question. Until the current financial year, all such funding was provided from the centre top level budget. For this financial year, funding for property management, capital works, rent and rates has been provided from the Defence Estates top level budget.
	Data for some costs (medical stores and the costs of service personnel temporarily attached to the establishment) are not readily available and have not been included in the aforementioned figures.
	Additional funding for a range of projects, not included in the above figures, has been generously provided by the Headley Court Trust.

Armed Forces: Manpower

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers from each country of the Commonwealth are employed in the Forces, broken down by  (a) Army,  (b) Royal Navy and  (c) Royal Air Force.

Derek Twigg: The most recent data available for the nationality of Commonwealth personnel serving in the UK regular forces are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Country  Naval Service at 6 October 2006  Army at 1 January 2007  Royal Air Force( 1)  at 6 March 2006 
			 Total Commonwealth 37,990 106,130 48,650 
			 United Kingdom 37,535 99,495 48,445 
			 Antigua — (2)— — 
			 Australia 10 70 10 
			 Bangladesh (2)— 5 — 
			 Barbados (2)— 10 (2)— 
			 Belize — 5 — 
			 Botswana — 10 — 
			 Cameroon — 30 — 
			 Canada 20 60 20 
			 Cyprus (2)— (2)— — 
			 Dominican Republic (2)— 15 — 
			 Fiji 75 1,955 5 
			 Gambia 5 100 (2)— 
			 Ghana (2)— 750 (2)— 
			 Grenada (2)— 50 — 
			 Guyana — 15 — 
			 India 5 50 (2)— 
			 Jamaica 30 940 25 
			 Kenya 5 120 5 
			 Malawi (2)— 115 (2)— 
			 Malaysia (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 Malta (2)— 5 (2)— 
			 Mauritius (2)— 25 (2)— 
			 Namibia — (2)— — 
			 New Zealand 5 65 5 
			 Nigeria (2)— 80 — 
			 Pakistan (2)— 5 (2)— 
			 Papua New Guinea — (2)— — 
			 Seychelles — 10 — 
			 Sierra Leone (2)— 45 — 
			 Singapore — (2)— — 
			 South Africa 60 795 10 
			 Sri Lanka — 15 (2)— 
			 St. Kitts and Nevis — (2)— (2)— 
			 St. Lucia 5 230 (2)— 
			 St. Vincent 165 275 (2)— 
			 Swaziland — 10 — 
			 Tanzania — (2)— — 
			 Tonga — 10 — 
			 Trinidad 25 70 10 
			 Uganda — 55 — 
			 Zambia (2)— 20 — 
			 Zimbabwe(3) 15 570 5 
			 Other West Indies — (2)— — 
			 Other Non-British(4) — 15 85 
			 '—'( )denotes zero or rounded to zero (1) Royal Air Force data for service personnel who are non-UK nationals have been provided on an ad-hoc basis as nationality data are not centrally held. The figure for service personnel who are UK nationals has been inferred from the total strength of the RAF at 1 April 2006. (2) Fewer than five. All other figures are rounded to the nearest five. (3) Includes personnel with nationality recorded as Rhodesian. (4) Includes personnel with nationality recorded as British Commonwealth/Foreign, Other African Country and Other Asiatic Country, and 75 RAF personnel recorded as Commonwealth by birth, but with no nationality recorded.  Note: Data are for UK regular forces (trained and untrained), including nursing services and excluding full time reserve service personnel, Gurkhas, the home service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists.

Armed Forces: Postal Services

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent changes have been made to the procedure by which members of the armed forces stationed overseas receive parcels free of charge; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: A free packet scheme was first introduced on 17 April 2003, as a temporary measure unique to Iraq, at a time when service personnel did not have access to the welfare facilities that are now available in theatre. When the provision of goods and services in Iraq reached the required standard, the decision was taken to end the scheme on 8 April 2004. It was later re-introduced for a period of one month before Christmas 2004, and subsequently confirmed by the then Secretary of State for Defence, prior to Christmas 2005, that the pre-Christmas free packet scheme was to become a standard element of the operational welfare package. The free posting dates for Christmas 2006 were 10 November to 8 December inclusive, for which Royal Mail Group charged the Ministry of Defence £577,000; this sum does not include the costs for additional air transport and onward distribution that were also paid for by the Department.
	The Ministry of Defence makes no charge to carry postal packets through the British Forces Post Office system to personnel on operations. The cost that is payable is that charged by Royal Mail Group to carry the items from local post offices to the British Forces Post Office Depot at Mill Hill, London.

Armed Forces: Surveys

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the latest Continuous Attitudes Survey from each of the services.

Derek Twigg: The latest Royal Navy, Royal Marine, Army and RAF Continuous Attitude Surveys are in the final stages of completion and will be available at the beginning of May. I will make arrangements to place copies in the Library of the House and on the MOD Freedom of Information Website.

Army: Recruitment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many different application forms a potential officer recruit to the Army must complete before entering Sandhurst; and what estimate he has made of the effect of that number on the number of recruits choosing to join the armed forces.

Derek Twigg: A candidate for a commission in the British Army has to complete a Potential Army Officer Information form, an Army Officer Selection Board Curriculum Vitae, an Application for a Commission in the British Army, an Army Medical Questionnaire and a MOD Security Questionnaire. If an individual is successful and takes up the offer of a Commission and place at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, they will be required to complete the following prior to arrival: Personal Details form, Medical Declaration and Pre Course Briefing form.
	The Army has no evidence that the number of forms is any deterrent to applicants.

Atomic Weapons Establishment: Finance

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the defence budget was spent on the Atomic Weapons Establishment in each of the last 10 years; and what the planned figures are for the next five years.

Des Browne: The percentage of the planned defence budget spent on the Atomic Weapons Establishment in each of the last 10 years is as follows:
	
		
			   Outturn spend as a percentage of the planned budget 
			 1996-97 1.3 
			 1997-98 1.4 
			 1998-99 1.3 
			 1999-2000 1.3 
			 2000-01 1.2 
			 2001-02 1.1 
			 2002-03 1.1 
			 2003-04 1.1 
			 2004-05 1.3 
			 2005-06(1) 1.8 
			 (1) Provisional. 
		
	
	The forecast percentage of the planned defence budget to be spent at the Atomic Weapons Establishment is 2.4 per cent. in 2006-07 and 2.7 per cent. in 2007-08. This is due primarily to the programme of additional investment in sustaining key skills and facilities announced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Airdie and Shorts (John Reid) on 19 July 2006,  Official Report, column 59WS.
	We will continue the programme of investment in sustaining capabilities at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, both to ensure we can maintain the existing warhead for as long as necessary and to enable us to develop a replacement warhead if required. This, and our plans for the maintenance of the independent nuclear deterrent were set out in the White Paper "The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent" (Cm 6994), published in December 2006.

BAE Systems

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many current security passes to enter his Department's premises have been issued to employees of BAE Systems; and if he will list the BAE Systems' employees who hold such passes.

Derek Twigg: Employees of BAE Systems that require access to MOD establishments are issued with a variety of security passes, depending on the nature of their business, the authorised access required and the duration of their requirement for access. Information is not held centrally on how many security passes have been issued and it would incur disproportionate cost to collate this data.

Ballistic Missile Defence

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2007,  Official Report, column 601W, what the well-established technical co-operation programmes are through which the UK makes a contribution to the US missile defence system; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: The UK/US technical co-operation programmes cover a wide range of missile defence activities. These include current and future missile threat assessment, threat launch detection, threat tracking, command and control aspects, sensors, weapon systems and the consequences of interception. The joint co-operation programmes have allowed both the UK and US to improve our joint understanding of missile defence issues, and have allowed UK-developed technology with potential missile defence applications to be demonstrated to the US.

Ballistic Missile Defence

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the work of the UK Missile Defence Centre.

Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 June 2006,  Official Report, column 402W, to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock).

Departmental Records

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he expects  (a) the project to safeguard a number of files which had been stored in the Old War Office Building and were affected by asbestos to be completed and  (b) (i) documents relating to the visit to London in 1974 of the then Turkish Prime Minister, Bulent Ecevit, and (ii) all other affected documents to be released.

Derek Twigg: It is anticipated that the project to scan the files affected by asbestos contamination of the Old War Office basement will be completed by early 2008. The project was originally expected to finish in July 2007, but the number of pages needing to be scanned has proved to be higher than estimated, requiring a six month extension.
	Freedom of Information requests frustrated by the contamination of files are being addressed in the order in which they were received as the files reconstituted by the project become available, although it will take at least nine months to process the backlog. All files scanned as part of this project will, in due course, be reviewed in accordance with established procedures. Those that The National Archives require for permanent preservation will be transferred there in accordance with the Public Records Acts.
	There is no file in the asbestos contaminated archive specifically related to Bulent Ecevit's visit to London in 1974. Although the archive contains a large number of files which have Turkey in their title, given the date in question only one of these could conceivably have covered the Ecevit visit. This file has been reconstituted and examined, but unfortunately holds no relevant information.

Departments: Public Expenditure

Christopher Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the planned programme budget was for his Department in each of the last 10 years  (a) in real terms and  (b) as a percentage of gross domestic product.

Des Browne: Since 1998, Defence spending plans have been set as part of the Government's Spending Review process. Prior to this, spending plans were set on an annual basis. The Government accounting process has changed progressively over this period due to the introduction of Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB). The terms in which these budgets were set are therefore not directly comparable.
	It is however possible to make a broad comparison between the near cash element of budgets under RAB and the cash element of the budget before the introduction of RAB(1).
	On this basis, the near cash/cash elements of the planned budget in real terms (2006-07 base year) and as a percentage of GDP are set out as follows:
	
		
			   Cash/Near cash budget in real terms (2006-07 base year) (£ billion)  Cash/Near Cash budget as a percentage of GDP 
			 1997-98 27.0 2.6 
			 1998-99 26.8 2.5 
			 1999-2000 26.4 2.4 
			 2000-01 26.9 2.4 
			 2001-02 26.9 2.3 
			 2002-03 26.8 2.3 
			 2003-04 27.5 2.3 
			 2004-05 27.7 2.2 
			 2005-06 28.3 2.2 
			 2006-07 28.7 2.2 
		
	
	For the first two of these years, the Government made it clear that it would work within the existing spending plans while it tackled the structural deficit it inherited and set new policy objectives and spending priorities. Since the first two years, the average annual real increase in the cash/near cash element of the Defence budget, has been over £300 million.
	The figures in the table do not include the cost of operations as these are claimed against the Reserve in-year and are reported in Departmental Expenditure figures. The most recent edition of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses, available online at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk, records that total government expenditure on defence, including operations, was 2.5 per cent. in 2004-05 and estimated at 2.5 per cent. in 2005-06.
	(1) See www.hm-treasury.gov.uk for explanation of terms

Departments: Redundancy

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on  (a) involuntary and  (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in (i) his Department and (ii) each agency of the Department in each year since 1997-98; how much is planned to be spent for 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	We do hold information on a Department-wide voluntary early release scheme which was launched in March 2005, in connection with the civil service-wide reductions required under the 2004 Spending Review. Under this scheme 643 staff left in 2005-06, at a cost of £41 million; 660 staff left in 2006-07 at a cost of £43 million; a further 706 are planned to be released at an estimated cost of £80 million in 2007-08.

Hercules Aircraft

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the effect on  (a) serviceability and  (b) availability of C130s has been of the introduction of the Hercules Integrated Operational Support contract provided by Marshall Aerospace.

Adam Ingram: The Hercules Integrated Operational Support (HIOS) contract's primary output is to provide Fit For Purpose (FFP) aircraft available to the Front Line Command. To qualify as FFP an aircraft must be reliable, safe and capable of performing the task on a given day.
	HIOS is still in its transitional phase, and is due to complete on 30 November 2007. Nevertheless, between 1 September 2006 and 31 January 2007 (the most recent period for which data is available), there was a modest increase in FFP aircraft of 3 per cent. (whilst also reducing costs) when compared with a similar time frame under the previous aircraft support arrangements. This performance is expected to improve progressively as the full benefits of HIOS take effect.

Mental Health

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2006,  Official Report, columns 625-26W, on mental health, what the assessed establishment requirement is for each category of mental health worker; and where each is based.

Derek Twigg: As stated on the 29 January 2007,  Official Report, column 25W, the DMS uniformed regular requirement figures have been reviewed and the new manning requirements for 2007 for all cadres will be formally announced in the near future. The new requirement figures may cause the current number and configuration of established posts or "establishment" to change.
	The following table shows the current number and location of establishment for uniformed psychiatrists and registered mental health nurses (RMHN) for each Service:
	
		
			  Unit  Location  Psychiatrist  RMHN 
			  RN
			 HMNB Clyde Faslane — 1 
			 DCMH Haslar Gosport 2 15 
			 DCMH Plymouth Plymouth — 6 
			 Total RN Establishment  2 22 
			 
			  Army
			 Paderbom Community Mental Health Team Paderbom — 1 
			 BFG HS Community Mental Health Team Hohne — 1 
			 Mental Health Services Out Patients, Wegberg Wegberg 1 4 
			 Mental Health Services In Patients, Wegberg Wegberg — 10 
			 Gutersloh Community Mental Health Team Gutersloh — 1 
			 BFG HS—MRS Rhine Mil. Complex Rhinedahlen — 2 
			 DCMH Haslar Gosport 2 — 
			 16 Close Support Colchester Colchester 1 1 
			 APHCS Northern Ireland Northern Ireland 1 4 
			 APHCS HQ Camberley 1 — 
			 Wales and West Midlands (PHC Region) Donnington 1 3 
			 Wessex (PHC Region) Tidworth 1 5 
			 Scotland and North East (PHC Region) Scotland and Gib 1 2 
			 Home Counties (PHC Region) DCMH Aldershot 2 5 
			 London and South East (PHC Region) DCMH Woolwich 1 3 
			 TPMH Akrotiri Cyprus — 1 
			 Eastern (PHC Region) DCMH Cranwell — 1 
			 Eastern (PHC Region) DCMH Colchester — 1 
			 Health Care and Projects King's College, London — 1 
			 Scotland and North East (PHC Region) DCMH Catterick 1 4 
			 Total Army Establishment  13 50 
			 
			  RAF
			 DCMH Catterick(1) Catterick 1 2 
			 TPMH Akrotiri Community Mental Health Team Cyprus — 3 
			 DCMH Brize Norton Brize Norton 1 9 
			 DCMH Cranwell Cranwell 1 6 
			 DCMH Marham Marham 1 8 
			 DCMH Donnington Donnington — 2 
			 Community Mental Health Clinic, Halton Halton — 1 
			 DCMH Kinloss Kinloss — 1 
			 RAF High Wycombe CHQ High Wycombe — 1 
			 RAF Lyneham (TMW) Lyneham — 3 
			 DCMH Woolwich Woolwich — 1 
			 Scotland (PHC Region) Leuchars — 1 
			 Total RAF Establishment  5 39 
			 (1) Psychiatrist establishment includes one rotation (tri-Service) post.  Notes: APHCS—Army Primary Health Care Service BFG HS—British Forces Germany Health Service CHQ—Collocated Headquarters DCMH—Department of Community Mental Health HMNB—Her Majesty's Naval Base MRS—Medical Reception Service PHC—Primary Health Care TMPH—The Princess Mary's Hospital TMW—Tactical Medical Wing 
		
	
	As stated in the answer given on 7 March 2007,  Official Report, 1986W, the MOD no longer employs mental health occupational therapists, but does employ civilian clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health nurses. However, the figures for their establishment are not held centrally. I will write to the hon. Member with these figures once they have been collated and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

Military Police

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Defence Police College opened at Southwick Park; and what the cost was of establishing this facility.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 22 February 2007
	The Defence Police College opened at Southwick Park on 15 September 2005.
	The post-project evaluation records the cost of establishing the facility as £7.139 million after the first year, including financial provisions to conclude building works.

Navy: Officers

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) Commanders,  (b) Captains,  (c) Commodores and  (d) Rear Admirals are on the (i) active and (ii) reserve lists; and how many were on the lists in 1997.

Derek Twigg: The information requested is detailed as follows:
	
		
			   2007  1997 
			 Rear Admiral (1)25 (2)27 
			 Commodore 58 (3)— 
			 Captain 221 307 
			 Commander 831 910 
			 (1 )15 are in RN/NATO posts. Others are Tri Service appointments in MOD (2 )21 were in RN/NATO posts (3 )Not a substantive rank. Officers in Commodore appointments are included in the figure for Captains 
		
	
	All senior officers have reserve liability on leaving the Service until the age of 60. This was applicable in 1997 and is the same in 2007.

Nuclear Submarines: Decommissioning

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of decommissioning  (a) nuclear submarine hulls, reactor compartments and propulsion reactors,  (b) warhead design and production facilities at Aldermaston and  (c) fissile material stores at Sellafield should it be decided to go ahead with a replacement for Trident; and whether any independent audit of such decommissioning expenditure has been made.

Des Browne: Paragraph 7-5 of the White Paper: "The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent" (Cm 6994) indicated that decisions on whether to acquire a replacement for the Trident missile are unlikely to be needed until the 2020s. The White Paper set out the decisions needed now to join the programme to extend the life of the Trident D5 missile and to start detailed concept work on new submarines to replace the Vanguard class.
	The Ministry of Defence has made provision in its accounts for a wide range of nuclear decommissioning liabilities. The latest estimate of these liabilities is shown in the Ministry of Defence annual report and accounts for 2005-06, HC1394, which were certified by the Comptroller and Auditor General. More detail is set out in the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Newport, West (Paul Flynn) on 24 July 2006,  Official Report, columns 778-79W.
	The estimate for the in-service costs of the UK's nuclear deterrent, once new submarines come into operation, set out at paragraph 5-14 of the White Paper includes an allowance for the decommissioning costs of a successor system. This estimate has not been subject to external scrutiny. At this very early stage, we are not in a position to provide a breakdown of decommissioning costs in the way requested.
	Investment at the Atomic Weapons Establishment has been increased in recent years primarily in order to ensure we can sustain the existing Trident warhead in-service for as long as necessary. This investment involves the replacement or refurbishment of a number of facilities related to the design and production of nuclear warheads. Proceeding with the plan to replace our Vanguard-class submarines and participate in the life extension programme for the Trident D5 missile would not have a material effect on these plans. As the White Paper makes clear, decisions on whether and how to replace or refurbish our warhead stockpile are likely to be necessary in the next Parliament.
	Facilities at Sellafield are the responsibility of the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency and British Nuclear Group Sellafield Ltd.

Nuclear Weapons

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for North Devon of 6 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1877W, on nuclear weapons, what estimate he has made of the cost of decommissioning future  (a) submarine reactor hulls and cores and  (b) facilities used to create future fissile nuclear materials and nuclear warheads for any replacement Trident nuclear programme after 2055.

Des Browne: As I explained to the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey) on 6 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1877W, the estimate of in-service support costs of the UK's nuclear deterrent set out at paragraph 5-14 of the White Paper, "The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent" (Cm 6994), includes an allowance for the decommissioning of a successor to the current system. At this very early stage, we are not in a position to provide figures in the way requested.
	In 1995, the UK announced that it had ceased production of fissile material for weapons purposes. This moratorium remains in place, and we do not envisage any requirement to change this position.
	The UK's current warhead design is likely to last into the 2020s, and decisions on whether and how we may need to refurbish or replace it are likely to be necessary in the next Parliament.

Proof of Identity: Ministry of Defence

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many current security passes there are for the Ministry of Defence main building.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 5 March 2007
	Across the MOD central London office buildings (Main Building, Old War Office Building and St. George's Court) there are currently 18,026 active security passes. Separate figures are not available for Main Building alone.

Smith Institute

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money from the public purse  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies gave to (i) the Smith Institute and (ii) its subsidiary SI Events Limited in each year since 1997; and for what purpose each payment was made.

Derek Twigg: No payments have been made by the Defence Bills Agency (DBA) or the Ministry of Defence's Trading Funds to the Smith Institute or SI Events.
	A small percentage of MOD's contract payments are not made by the DBA or Trading Funds, but are made locally against contracts placed on behalf of other Government Departments, joint venture and NATO contracts and contracts placed through collaborative projects. However, this information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Television and Play Stations

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on  (a) television sets and  (b) Sony Playstations for the use of service personnel in each of the last three financial years for which figures are available.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 18 January 2007
	Information on the total number of televisions and Playstations purchased across Defence over the last three financial years is not held centrally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.
	However, figures for expenditure on televisions and Playstations for personnel deployed on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the calendar years 2005, 2006 and 2007 to date are available. These are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Televisions  Playstations 
			 2005 56,039 8,357 
			 2006 135,937 25,571 
			 2007 to date 67,700 4,199

Trident

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the change in the cost of nuclear decommissioning liabilities which would arise from the replacement of the Vanguard class Trident nuclear submarines; what factors are included in the estimate; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: It is too early to make a reasonable estimate of the nuclear decommissioning liabilities associated with a new class of submarines built to maintain our nuclear deterrent. However, the nuclear liabilities in the Department's annual report and accounts for 2005-06, HC1394, include a figure of £333 million for all current in-service submarines, including the Vanguard class. More detail on the MOD's current nuclear decommissioning liabilities is set out in the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Newport, West (Paul Flynn) on 24 July 2006,  Official Report, columns 778-79W.

Warships

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what definitions his Department uses of the terms  (a) reduced readiness,  (b) extended readiness and  (c) low readiness; how many ships are in each category; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to my letter of 6 March 2007, to the hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr. Lewis), a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Alternative Medicine

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how the pilot project to provide complementary and alternative medicine-CAM-within the NHS in Northern Ireland will be administered.

Paul Goggins: GPs attached to the selected practices within the pilot will refer their patients for treatment to one of the therapy groups included on the scheme. These are at present osteopathy, chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture, massage and aromatherapy. Get Well UK will receive the referral and contact the patient to make an initial appointment for them. The use of Get Well UK will remove the administration burden from the CAM therapist and allow them to focus totally on patient care. All stakeholders (patients, practitioners, GPs) will be asked for their feedback. This information will be collated by Get Well UK and will be independently evaluated.
	A steering group will be established, chaired by the Department and containing key stakeholders from the health and social services boards, the various CAM therapy governing organisations, GPs and the health and social services councils. This group will monitor the service, including that provided by Get Well UK, and evaluate the feedback from GPs, patients and practitioners. The group will consider where necessary during the pilot any changes that need to be implemented to ensure that the scheme meets its aims and objectives.

Alternative Medicine

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether members of the NHS Directory of Complementary and Alternative Practitioners will have to apply to be recognised as a Get Well UK therapist operating in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: Practitioners wishing to participate in the pilot scheme were required to register with Get Well UK. Practitioners are able to join the NHS register of complementary and alternative medicine practitioners for a fee, but being on the register does not provide proof that the person or organisation registered is qualified or competent. It remains the responsibility of the person or body who engages the services of any practitioner to ensure that they are properly qualified.
	The recruitment and quality assurance system provided by Get Well UK on behalf of the Department is robust. As well as asking about practitioners' qualifications and training, copies of all certificates and insurance details are kept on file, references are taken and police checks conducted to comply with The Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (NI) Order 2003. Get Well UK also conducts face-to-face interviews to ensure the suitability of practitioners to work in the health service as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

Alternative Medicine

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what experience of  (a) delivering complementary and alternative medicine and  (b) operating in Northern Ireland, Get Well UK has.

Paul Goggins: Get Well UK was formed in May 2004 and has delivered five complementary medicine contracts in NHS primary care settings since that time. It was established as a not-for-profit organisation specifically to deliver complementary and alternative medicine services. Its managing director has 10 years' experience of managing and delivering complementary medicine services. The Board includes people at both chair and chief executive level within the NHS and an osteopath of 30 years' standing who was the medical director of an osteopathic school and a council member of the General Osteopathic Council.
	Get Well UK was given a special award in the 2005 Awards for Good Practice in Integrated Healthcare, "Integrated Health Futures Award: recognising innovation to improve health". This was in recognition of the specific skills, infrastructure and exacting quality standards built into Get Well UK's service delivery.
	Get Well UK has not operated in Northern Ireland previously.

Ambulances

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many ambulance service vehicles were in operation in each ambulance district in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years, broken down by type.

Paul Goggins: The number of ambulance service vehicles in operation in each Ambulance Division in each of the last five years are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  NIAS division  A and E vehicles  PCS vehicles  Rapid Response 
			  1 January 2007
			 Northern 38 27 2 
			 Southern 30 21 1 
			 East City 22 East total 33(1) 1 
			 East Country 22 (1)— 2 
			 Western 28 22 3 
			 Total 140 103 9 
			 
			  1 January 2006
			 Northern 38 27 2 
			 Southern 30 21 1 
			 East City 22 East total 33(2) 1 
			 East Country 22 (2)— 1 
			 Western 28 22 2 
			 Total 140 103 7 
			 
			  1 January 2005
			 Northern 37 27 2 
			 Southern 30 21 1 
			 East City 21 East total 33(3) 1 
			 East Country 22 (3)— 1 
			 Western 27 22 2 
			 Total 137 103 7 
			 
			  1 January 2004
			 Northern 37 21 1 
			 Southern 30 16 1 
			 East City 21 East total 32(4) 1 
			 East Country 22 (4)— 1 
			 Western 27 19 1 
			 Total 137 88 5 
			 
			  1 January 2003
			 Northern 37 21 1 
			 Southern 30 16 1 
			 East City 21 East total 32(5) 1 
			 East Country 22 (5)—  
			 Western 27 19 1 
			 Total 137 88 4 
			  Vehicle types: Accident and Emergency (A and E) Rapid Response Vehicles (RRV) Patient Care Service (PCS)

Domestic Rates

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the  (a) gross and  (b) net revenue from domestic rates in Northern Ireland was in (i) 2004-05 and (ii) 2005-06; and what the estimated level is for 2006-07.

David Hanson: The gross collectable rate for domestic properties in NI for 2004-05 was £343,759,491.47. The net revenue collected for domestic properties in 2004-05 amounted to £328,376,655.77.
	The gross collectable rate for domestic properties in NI for 2005-06 was £379,372,507.06. The net revenue collected for domestic properties in 2005-06 amounted to £367,620,688.16.
	The estimated gross collectable rate for domestic properties in NI for 2006-07 is £425 million. The estimated net revenue collected for domestic properties in 2006-07 will be in the region of £383 million.

Firearms

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many firearms certificate applications were made in each Police Service of Northern Ireland district command unit area in each of the past three years; and how many of those applications were  (a) successful and  (b) unsuccessful.

Paul Goggins: The chief constable has provided, in the following table, details of firearms applications from 1 February 2005 (when a new computer system was introduced) to December 2006. The figures cannot be disaggregated by district command unit.
	
		
			   Granted  Refused 
			 2005 11,984 270 
			 2006 27,690 147 
		
	
	The figures include certificates granted to both first time applicants and to persons whose previous certificate had expired. The figures for 2006 were inflated by a backlog of applications carried forward from 2005.

Housing: Waiting Lists

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to reduce housing waiting lists in Northern Ireland; and what targets have been put in place relating to the reduction of such lists.

David Hanson: The Government are committed to reducing housing waiting lists and are investing in a range of measures to achieve this objective.
	The main method of meeting housing need is through reallocation of existing stock supplemented by additional new build. There are also strategies in place to purchase suitable homes and to bring vacant properties back into social housing use. The private rented sector has also grown significantly and is increasingly an important source of housing supply.
	The current five-year social housing development programme makes provision for 1,500 social housing units annually, subject to the availability of funding. The need for additional social housing is addressed in the current comprehensive spending review. The Semple review into affordability, which is due to be published shortly, is expected to contain recommendations to help reduce waiting lists.

Maternity Services

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding was allocated to maternity services in each health board area in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The planned funding allocated to maternity services (both acute expenditure and community midwifery spend) in each health board area in each of the last three years as shown in the following table.
	
		
			  £000 
			  Board  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 EHSSB 22,174 23,794 25,621 
			 NHSSB 15,710 17,200 18,362 
			 SHSSB 12,529 13,421 14,589 
			 WHSSB 10,503 11,374 11,678 
			  Note:  The planned hospital spend relates to Obstetrics and does not include specialist neo-natal care, for example in a Special Care Baby Unit, that would be recorded under Acute services. 
		
	
	Further information would be available only at disproportionate cost.

Nurses: Pay

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the rates of pay are for each grade of nurse Northern Ireland; and what the percentage change was to the rate at each grade in each of the last six years.

Paul Goggins: Nurses in the Health and Personal Social Services are paid on the Agenda for Change pay bands 5, 6, 7, 8a, 8b or 8c depending on the job undertaken. The pay band ranges at April 2006 are band 5 (£19,166 to £24,803), band 6 (£22,886 to £31,004), band 7 (£27,622 to £36,416) band 8a (£35,232 to £42,278), band 8b (£41,038 to £50,733), and band 8c (£49,381 to £60,880). All nurses have received similar percentage pay increases in the last six years; the percentage pay increases that have applied are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Percentage increase 
			 2001 3.7 
			 2002 (1)3.6 
			 2003 3.225 
			 2004 3.225 
			 2005 3.225 
			 2006 2.5 
			 (1) Or £400 whichever is the greater

Physiotherapy

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who the members of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety physiotherapy taskforce are; and for what reason they were appointed in each case.

Paul Goggins: I established the physiotherapy taskforce to address and provide workable, realistic solutions to the current situation of reported high levels of graduate unemployment among newly trained physiotherapists. It was considered important to involve representatives of the profession, the commissioners, employers and work force planners. Membership of the taskforce therefore comprises representatives of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, the trade union, HSS Trust physiotherapy management and Human Resources; a member of the physiotherapy work force and a physiotherapy student. A full list of members will be placed in the Library.
	 Physiotherapy taskforce membership:
	Joyce Cairns, Workforce Planning Unit, Human Resources Directorate, DHSSPS
	Diane Taylor, Education and Training Unit, Human Resources Directorate, DHSSPS
	Catherine Elliman, Clinical Tutor (staff-side rep), Royal Hospital Group HSS Trust
	Karen McMaster, Physiotherapy Manager, Causeway HSS Trust
	Tom Sullivan, Policy Officer, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
	Linda Austin, Senior Negotiating Officer, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
	Nuala Doherty, Physiotherapy Undergraduate
	Wendy Harpur, Lecturer in Health Sciences, University of Ulster
	Fiona Crossey, Senior Consultant, Beeches Management Centre
	Gloria Mills, Physiotherapy Manager, Mater Hospital HSS Trust
	Deirdre Corrigan, Information and Analysis Directorate, DHSSPS
	Nuala McArdie, Officer for the Allied Health Professionals, DHSSPS
	Brian Beattie, Physiotherapy Manager, Craigavon Area Hospital
	Michelle Tennyson, Allied Health Professional Commissioning Advisor, EHSSB
	Jean Johns, Physiotherapy Manager, Belfast City Hospital
	John Martin, Physiotherapy Manager, Association of Physios in Private Practice
	Liz Cavan, PAMS Director, Newry and Mourne Trust
	Pauline McAleese, Physiotherapy Manager, UCHT
	Sue Prenter, PAMS Manager, Sperrin Lakeland Trust
	Fiona Wilson, Physiotherapist, North and West Belfast HSS Trust
	Dr. Jackie Gracey, Lecturer in Health Sciences, University of Ulster
	Mervyn Barkley, Director of Human Resources, Belfast City Hospital
	Muriel McRobbie, Secretariat, Workforce Planning Unit, DHSSPS

Physiotherapy

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many physiotherapists were employed by each health trust area in Northern Ireland in each of the last six years, broken down by grade; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is presented in the following tables.
	
		
			  Physiotherapists employed within the NI HPSS by grade and by trust as at 30 September 2001 
			  Headcount 
			   Area physiotherapist/supt physiotherapist  Senior physiotherapist 1  Senior physiotherapist 2  Basic grade physiotherapist 
			 Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust/Foyle Community HSS Trust 7 17 4 12 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 4 18 6 3 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 5 19 7 15 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 5 13 8 4 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust 7 28 13 8 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 5 26 14 5 
			 Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust 11 24 17 9 
			 Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust 1 5 3 4 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 4 13 4 4 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 4 25 4 — 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 9 33 10 22 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 1 28 7 — 
			 Sperrin/Lakeland HSS Trust 3 13 3 5 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust 10 25 20 20 
			 United Hospitals Group HSS Trust 6 40 22 11 
			 Total 82 327 142 122 
		
	
	
		
			  Physiotherapists employed within the NI HPSS by grade and by trust as at 30 September 2002 
			  Headcount 
			   Area physiotherapist/supt physiotherapist  Senior physiotherapist 1  Senior physiotherapist 2  Basic grade physiotherapist 
			 Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust/Foyle Community HSS Trust 8 16 5 11 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 4 20 7 — 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 6 21 8 19 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 6 13 9 5 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust 9 27 15 9 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 6 30 15 7 
			 Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust 12 28 15 11 
			 Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust 1 5 5 8 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 4 12 4 8 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 4 25 5 — 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 9 38 10 22 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 2 28 7 — 
			 Sperrin/Lakeland HSS Trust 3 13 5 4 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust 7 28 19 20 
			 United Hospitals Group HSS Trust 5 45 22 12 
			 Total 86 349 151 136 
		
	
	
		
			  Physiotherapists employed within the NI HPSS by grade and by trust as at 30 September 2003 
			  Headcount 
			   Area physiotherapist/supt physiotherapist  Senior physiotherapist 1  Senior physiotherapist 2  Basic grade physiotherapist 
			 Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust/Foyle Community HSS Trust 8 19 4 12 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 4 21 6 1 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 5 25 11 15 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 6 14 10 6 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust 10 29 15 9 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 7 33 15 5 
			 Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust 19 23 15 11 
			 Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust 2 4 6 6 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 5 16 3 10 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 4 25 5 — 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 9 36 11 20 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 4 25 9 — 
			 Sperrin/Lakeland HSS Trust 3 14 6 7 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust 12 31 18 18 
			 United Hospitals Group HSS Trust 5 46 25 10 
			 Total 103 361 159 130 
		
	
	
		
			  Physiotherapists employed within the NI HPSS by grade and by trust as at 30 September 2004 
			  Headcount 
			   Area physiotherapist/supt physiotherapist  Senior physiotherapist 1  Senior physiotherapist 2  Basic grade physiotherapist 
			 Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust/Foyle Community HSS Trust 8 16 8 10 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 4 22 8 — 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 8 24 9 20 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 7 18 9 5 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust 15 29 16 6 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 8 36 11 8 
			 Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust 22 23 17 15 
			 Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust 5 4 4 6 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 6 16 8 8 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 7 25 8 — 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 9 41 11 21 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 10 20 11 — 
			 Sperrin/Lakeland HSS Trust 5 19 3 3 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust 13 33 15 20 
			 United Hospitals Group HSS Trust 4 56 26 11 
			 Total 131 382 164 133 
		
	
	
		
			  Physiotherapists employed within the NI HPSS by grade and by trust as at 30 September 2005 
			  Headcount 
			   Area physiotherapist/supt physiotherapist  Senior physiotherapist 1  Senior physiotherapist 2  Basic grade physiotherapist 
			 Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust/Foyle Community HSS Trust 7 18 10 10 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 4 21 8 3 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 9 26 6 17 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 6 19 9 7 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust 15 29 20 8 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 10 40 14 8 
			 Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust 20 23 18 13 
			 Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust 6 4 4 7 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 6 18 7 8 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 8 27 8 — 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 9 41 11 26 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 14 20 8 — 
			 Sperrin/Lakeland HSS Trust 7 19 3 8 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust 14 37 17 15 
			 United Hospitals Group HSS Trust 10 51 28 12 
			 Total 145 393 171 142 
		
	
	
		
			  Physiotherapists employed within the NI HPSS by grade and by trust as at 30 September 2006 
			  Headcount 
			   Area physiotherapist/supt physiotherapist  Senior physiotherapist 1  Senior physiotherapist 2  Basic grade physiotherapist 
			 Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust/Foyle Community HSS Trust 6 21 16 8 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 4 24 6 4 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 12 25 6 18 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 6 19 9 7 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust 18 26 22 11 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 10 41 15 10 
			 Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust 21 27 17 13 
			 Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust 6 4 3 6 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 6 19 6 8 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 8 28 10 — 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 9 40 10 24 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 14 24 7 — 
			 Sperrin/Lakeland HSS Trust 6 19 3 9 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust 14 38 20 17 
			 United Hospitals Group HSS Trust 13 53 30 12 
			 Total 153 408 180 147 
			  Notes: Area physiotherapist/supt physiotherapist contains staff at all levels within the area physiotherapist and supt physiotherapist grades. Basic grade physiotherapist includes staff at the following grades: physiotherapist, graduate entry physiotherapist and diploma entry physiotherapist.  Source: Human Resource Management System.

Physiotherapy

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety physiotherapy taskforce has met since its formation; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of each meeting.

Paul Goggins: The Physiotherapy taskforce met twice. The first meeting was held 9 November 2006 and the second on 21 November 2006, Further correspondence occurred via email. The taskforce have reported to me and I have endorsed their proposals for immediate action to fund 10 time-bound three-month placements for newly qualified physiotherapists. Copies of the minutes of both meetings will be placed in the Library.

Physiotherapy

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many physiotherapy graduates were working as volunteers in each health trust area in Northern Ireland in each of the last six years; and how many such volunteers went on to gain employment within each trust.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is presented in the following table.
	
		
			  Trust  Year  Number of physiotherapy graduates employed as volunteers  Number of volunteers who went on to gain employment in the trust 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust 2003-04 One overseas graduate who was applying for HPC registration None 
			  2005-06 One graduate hoping to return to employment after a long break in service 1 
			 Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust 2005-06 One (for three months) This volunteer was offered a temporary post but declined due to being in a longer term contract in Kilkenny 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 2005-06 1 1 
			 Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust(1) 2005-06 5 None however all five are now employed in NI by other Trusts 
			  2006-07 3 One employed by another Trust in NI, two still pursuing employment 
			 Foyle Community HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 Craigavon and—Banbridge HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 United Hospitals Group HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 Homefirst Community HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 Northern Ireland Ambulance Service 2006-07 0 — 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 2006-07 0 — 
			 (1) Green Park were unable to provide figures for years prior to 2005-06 within the timescale.  Source: The information is not held centrally and has been obtained directly from Trusts.

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland took a career break in each of the last five years, broken down by grade; how many of those involved have since returned to work; what the Police Service of Northern Ireland's policy is on career breaks; when it was last reviewed; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The current policy on career breaks within the Police Service of Northern Ireland was introduced in May 2006 and is due for review in May 2007. Prior to the introduction of this policy there was no formal facility or policy for career breaks. Police officers could avail of unpaid leave but no figures have been collated relating to this. The number of officers who have taken career breaks under the current policy is 12, of which one has returned to work.
	
		
			   Constables  Inspector 
			 2006 10 1 
			 2007 — 1 
		
	
	The policy on career breaks is designed to provide a means for police officers who have completed their initial probationary period to spend a period of time away from work pursuing other activities without giving up their career, and can last for between one to five years. While on a career break, officers may not pursue a business interest or other paid employment, or full time education unless it falls within policy guidelines and regulations. Although unpaid, officers retain their salary points and rank and sympathetic consideration is given to officers with regard to returning to their previous post. Should it be necessary, appropriate training can be provided on return.

Respite Care

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were waiting for respite care in each health trust area in Northern Ireland as of 1 March; and how many of those have been waiting  (a) 0-3,  (b) 3-5,  (c) 6-9,  (d) 10-12,  (e) 13-16 and  (f) longer than 16 months.

Paul Goggins: Information on the total number of people waiting for respite care is not available centrally. Information is, however, available on the number of adults waiting for respite care at 31 December 2006 (the latest date for which such information is available) and is shown, according to the time bands for which the information is collected, in the following table.
	
		
			   Length of time waiting for respite care 
			  Health and Social Services Trust  Under 1 month  1 month - under 3 months  3 months - under 6 months  6 months - under 12 months  12 months and over  Total 
			 Down Lisburn 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North and West Belfast 8 14 10 2 2 36 
			 South and East Belfast 0 1 2 1 0 4 
			 Ulster 1 0 8 4 2 15 
			 Causeway 13 3 10 12 3 41 
			 Home first 1 1 0 15 0 17 
			 Armagh and Dungannon 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge 4 3 0 0 6 13 
			 Newry and Moume 0 0 0 6 4 10 
			 Foyle 3 2 4 12 2 23 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 13 0 0 0 0 13 
			 Northern Ireland Total 43 24 34 52 19 172 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are provisional. 2. The information applies to any adult who has been assessed to be in need of respite care, and who has not yet received their first respite break. The length of time waiting is the length of time between the identification of need for respite care and the end of the quarter. 3. Adults are defined as persons aged 18 and over.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are taken to ensure that fines imposed for benefit fraud in Northern Ireland are paid.

Paul Goggins: Any fine imposed by a court will result in a fine notice being issued to the defendant, stipulating a period of time to pay and giving the defendant the opportunity to apply to the court for further time to pay or for an order to pay by instalments. The notice will also include a warning that non-payment will result in the issue of a warrant committing the defendant to prison and additional costs attendant upon such issue.
	If payment is not received within the period allowed, a "Warrant of Commitment for Sum Adjudged to be paid by Conviction" will be automatically issued to PSNI to either collect the money or lodge the defendant in HM Prison/YOC.
	Warrants are registered and sent to the District Command Unit in which the defendant is believed to reside. Management of the execution process varies across District Command Units according to available resources and competing operational demands. While the execution of some warrants will not present difficulties, others may be problematic and will necessitate a more determined effort by police.
	Although not an exhaustive list, the following enquiries should be carried out:
	Personal calls to the address shown on the warrant at different times of the day and days of the week.
	Enquiries with neighbours, friends and family where appropriate.
	Checks on ICIS and PPS Case Prep.
	Enquiries with local Criminal Intelligence Officer.
	Enquiries with Criminal Intelligence Officer at previous address/address last proceeded against where appropriate.
	Enquiries with previous investigating officers where applicable.
	All actions are logged on a warrant action sheet and attached to the warrant. This will be the original contemporaneous record of efforts made to execute the warrant. From a technical perspective, a new integrated IT application has been developed which will manage all warrants from their issue at court through to execution. This system, along with other measures under consideration, should lead to improved monitoring and accountability.

Special Educational Needs

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many  (a) special educational needs tribunal cases and  (b) special educational needs judicial review cases there were in each education and library board in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: The number of appeals to the special educational needs tribunal in each education and library board for each of the last five years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 BELB 8 4 3 3 1 
			 NEELB 6 13 12 9 9 
			 SEELB 6 3 13 13 3 
			 SELB 12 4 4 3 3 
			 WELB 2 10 5 4 11 
		
	
	The number of special educational needs judicial reviews in each education and library board for each of the last five years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 BELB 0 1 1 4 3 
			 NEELB 2 0 2 1 0 
			 SEELB 0 2 9 8 5 
			 SELB 0 0 1 2 0 
			 WELB 0 0 0 0 1

Sports: Facilities

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many public sports facilities in Northern Ireland offer sunbeds for public use.

David Cairns: None of the 26 district councils offer sunbeds for public use.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Balkans: Arms Trade

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many import licences were granted for arms from  (a) Bosnia and Herzegovina,  (b) Croatia and  (c) Serbia and Montenegro in the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by type of import licence description.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department of Trade and Industry issues licences to import firearms that fall under the Firearms Act 1968, as amended.
	A total of 92 open import licences were granted from 1 January 2006 to date that would allow arms to be imported from any country other than a member state of the European Union (AY). These licences are valid for non prohibited firearms such as bolt action rifles and certain shot guns.
	A total of 53 specific import licences were granted from 1 January 2006 to date that would allow the import of arms from  (a) Bosnia and Herzegovina (BA),  (b) Croatia,  (c) Serbia (XS) and Montenegro prohibited under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended. The following table is divided into those licences that specify a specific country and those that could be used for importing arms from any country including those listed (AY).
	
		
			  Import licences issued from 1 January 2006 to date 
			  Country of consignment  Description 
			  Description on Open Import Licence for Non-prohibited Firearms  
			 AY Firearms, component parts thereof, or ammunition of any applicable Tariff Heading, other than those falling under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 as amended by the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, the Firearms (Amendment) Regulations (1992), the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997, the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997 and the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 
			   
			  Description on Specific Import Licences for Prohibited Firearms  
			 AY No more than 75 in total of the following weapon types complete with sights optic/night: sub machine guns/light machine guns/medium machine guns/heavy machine guns/automatic cannon/cannon/assault rifles/carbines/self-loading rifles/carbines/automatic rifles/carbines/pump action rifles/carbines, cal 3 mm-57 mm/.17"-1"/5 x silencers 
			   
			 AY 60 x handguns (cal. 2 mm-27 mm/.172-1") 
			   
			 AY 5 x silencers and 45 shotguns (pump, revolver, automatic and semi-automatic) cal. .410", 28G, 20G, 12G.16G, 8G, 4G 
			   
			 AY No more than: 10,000 x weapons to which section 5(1)(a) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended, applies/600 x weapons to which section 5(1)(ab) of the Act applies/6,000 x weapons to which section 5(1)(aba) of the Act applies/100 x weapons to which section 5(1)(ac) of the Act applies/3,000 x weapons to which section 5(1)(ae) of the Act applies/750 x anti-riot guns to which section 5(1)(b) of the Act applies/600,000 x component parts to which sections 5(1)(a) and 5(1)(aba) of the Act applies/700,000 x rounds of ammunition to which section 5(1A)(e) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended, applies 
			   
			 AY No more in total than the following: 110 x lightweight multiple launchers/500 x shoulder launch anti-armour missiles/10 x vehicle missile launchers/2,600 x close-air defence missiles/220 x air to ground anti-armour missiles/20 x disarmed sectional missiles/75 x automatic/semi-automatic rifles/carbines (modified)/25 x machine guns (modified)/15 x grenade launchers (modified)/2 x drill anti-tank weapons/5 x drill close-air-defence missiles/88 x helicopter mounted missile launchers/2,000 x anti-tank missiles/200 surface-to-air missiles/100 x air-to-air missiles/500 x shoulder launch aiming units/200 x practice missiles 
			   
			 AY No more than 500 in total of prohibited weapons and prohibited ammunition to which sections 5(1)(c) and 5(1A)(b) of the Firearms Act 1968 as amended applies 
			   
			 AY 12 x firearms to which section 5(1)(a) of the Firearms Act 1968 as amended applies/12 x firearms to which section 5(1)(ab) of the Firearms Act 1968 as amended applies/12 x firearms to which section 5(1)(aba) of the Firearms Act 1968 as amended applies 
			   
			 AY 5,000 x automatic weapons of all types 
			   
			 AY 1,000 x semi-automatic (self-loading) rifles and carbines of all types 
			   
			 AY 200 x short barrelled shotguns fed by slide, pump or lever action or by self loading mechanism 
			   
			 AY 2,000 x large and small calibre pistols and revolvers (handguns) of all types 
			   
			 AY 10 x .223 semi-automatic rifles/carbines 
			   
			 AY No more than 10,000 x weapons to which section 5(1)(a) of the Firearms Act1968, as amended, applies/600 x weapons to which section 5(1)(ab) of the Act applies/6,000 x weapons to which section 5(1)(aba) of the Act applies/100 x weapons to which section 5(1)(ac) of the Act applies/3,000 x weapons to which section 5(1)(ae) of the Act applies/750 x anti-riot guns to which section 5(1)(b) of the Act applies/600,000 x component parts to which sections 5(1)(a) and5(1)(aba) of the Act applies/700,000 x rounds of ammunition to which section5(1A)(e) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended, applies 
			   
			 AY 5 x silencers and no more than 45 x pump action, automatic, semi-automatic, revolver shotguns (cal. .410", 28G, 20G, 12G,16G, 8G, 4G) 
			   
			 AY No more than 75 of the following weapons complete with sights optic/night: Sub machine guns /light machine guns/medium machine guns/heavy machine guns/automatic cannon/cannon/assault rifles/carbines/self-loading rifles/carbines/automatic rifles/carbines/pump action rifles/carbines, cal. 3 mm-57 mm/.17"-1"/5 x silencers 
			   
			 AY 5 x silencers/10 x derringers/30 x handguns/5 x machine pistols (cal. 2 mm-27 mm/.172-1") 
			   
			 AY No more in total than 13,000 x weapons to which sections 5(1)(a), 5(1)(ab), (ac) and (ae) of the Firearms Act 1968 as amended applies/1,300 x weapons to which section 5(1)(b) of the Act as referred to applies (excluding electro-shock weapons)/500 x weapons to which section 5(1)aba) of the Act as referred to applies/8,000 x component parts to which sections 5(1)(a) and 5(1)(aba) of the Act as referred to applies/25,000 x items to which sections 5(1)(c), 5(1A)(d) and5 (1 A)(e) of the Act as referred to applies 
			   
			 AY 100 x pistols to which section 5(1)(aba) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended, applies 
			   
			 AY No more than 200 x prohibited weapons falling under sections 5(1)(a), 5(1)(ab), 5(1)(ac), 5(1)(ad), 5(1)(ae) and 5(1A)(c) of the Firearms Act 1968 as amended/ No more in total than 150 x prohibited weapons falling under section 5(1)(aba) of the Act 
			   
			 AY No more than the following: 10,000 x weapons to which section 5(1)(a) of the Firearms Act 1968 (as amended), applies/600 x weapons to which section 5(1)(ab) of the Act applies/6,000 x weapons to which section5(1)(aba) of the Act applies/100 x weapons to which section 5(1)(ac) of the Act applies/3,000 x weapons to which section 5(1)(ae) of the Act applies/750 x anti-riot weapons to which section5(1)(b) of the Act applies/600,000 x component parts to which sections 5(1)(a) and 5(1)(aba) of the Act applies/700,000 x rounds of ammunition to which section 5(1A)(e) of the Act applies 
			   
			 AY 6,300 x 9 mm pistols/90,000 x rounds of 12.7 mm ammunition 
			   
			 AY 90 x 12.7 mm machine guns/85 x 7.62 mm machine guns /12 x 7.62 mm sniper rifles 
			   
			 AY 110 x lightweight multiple launchers/500 x shoulder launch anti-armour missiles/40 x vehicle missile launchers/2,600 x close-air defence missiles/220 x air-to- ground anti-armour missiles/20 x disarmed sectioned missiles/75 x automatic and semi-automatic rifles/carbines (modified)/25 x machine guns (modified)/15 x grenade launchers (modified)/2 x drill anti-tank weapons/5 x drill close-air-defence missiles/2,000 x anti-tank missiles/500 x shoulder launch aiming units/200 x surface-to-air missiles/200 x practice missiles/88 x helicopter mounted missile launchers/100 x air-to-air missiles 
			   
			 AY 20 x 5.8x42 mm automatic rifles/20 x 5.56 mm automatic rifles/20 x 7.65 mm sub machine guns/30,000 x rounds of 7.65 mm ammunition/10,000 x rounds of 5.8 mm ammunition 
			   
			 AY No more than 500 x prohibited ammunition to which sections 5(1)(c) and 5(1 A)(b) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended, applies 
			   
			 AY 12 x weapons to which section 5(1)(a) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended, applies/12 x weapons to which section 5(1)(ab) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended, applies/12 x weapons to which section 5(1)(aba) of the Firearms Act 1968. as amended, applies 
			   
			 AY 5,000 x automatic weapons of all types 
			   
			 AY 1,000 x semi-automatic (self-loading) rifles and carbines of all types 
			   
			 AY 200 x short barrelled shotguns fed by slide, pump or lever action or by self-loading mechanism 
			   
			 AY 2,000 x large and small calibre pistols and revolvers (handguns) of all types 
			   
			 AY No more than 500 x automatic weapons of all types, semi-automatic weapons, grenade launchers, handguns and component parts for the preceding firearms 
			   
			 AY 100 x firearms to which section 5(1)(aba) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended, applies 
			   
			 AY 12 x weapons to which section 5(1)(a) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended applies/12 x weapons to which section 5(1)(ab) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended applies/12 x weapons to which section 5(1)(aba) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended applies 
			   
			 AY 5 x silencers/10 x derringers/30 x handguns/5 x machine pistols 
			   
			 AY 5 x silencers / 45 x shotguns (pump, revolver, automatic, semi-automatic in calibres .410", 28G, 20G, 16G, 12G, 8G, 4G) 
			   
			 AY 5 x silencers/No more than 75 of the following weapons complete with sights optic/night: Sub machine guns/light machine guns/medium machine guns/heavy machine guns/automatic cannon/cannon/assault rifles/carbines/self-loading rifles/carbines/automatic rifles/carbines/pump action rifles/carbines, cal. 3 mm-57 mm/.17"-1" 
			   
			 AY No more in total than 13,000 x weapons to which sections 5(1)(a), 5(1)(ab), (ac) and (ae) of the Firearms Act 1968 as amended applies/1,300 x weapons to which section 5(1)(b) of the Act as referred to applies (excluding electro-shock weapons)/500 x weapons to which section 5(1)(aba) of the Act as referred to applies/8,000 x component parts to which sections 5(1)(a) and 5(1)(aba) of the Act as referred to applies/25,000 x items to which sections 5(1)(c), 5(1A)(d) and 5(1A)(e) of the Act as referred to applies 
			   
			 AY 6,300 x 9 mm pistols/90,000 x rounds of 12.7 mm API ammunition 
			   
			 AY 10,000 x section 5(1)(a)/600 x section 5(1)(ab)/6,000 x section 5(1)(aba)/ 100 x section 5(1)(ac)/3,000 x section 5(1)(ae)/750 x section 5(1)(b)/600,000 x component parts under sections 5(1 )(a) and (aba)/700,000 x section 5(1 A)(e) 
			   
			 AY 12 x firearms to which section 5(1)(a)/12 x section 5(1)(ab)/12 x section 5(1)(aba) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended applies. 
			   
			 AY 14 x Dragunov semi-automatic rifles/90 x 12.7 mm machine guns/85 x 7.62 mm machine guns 
			   
			 AY No more in total than the following: 110 x lightweight multiple launchers/500 x shoulder launch anti-armour missiles/10 x vehicle missile launchers /2,600 x close-air defence missiles/220 x air to ground anti-armour missiles/20 x disarmed sectional missiles/75 x automatic/semi-automatic rifles/carbines (modified)/25 x machine guns (modified)/15 x grenade launchers (modified)/2 x drill anti-tank weapons/5 x drill close-air-defence missiles/88 x helicopter mounted missile launchers/2,000 x anti-tank missiles/200 surface-to-air missiles/100 x air-to-air missiles/500 x shoulder launch aiming units/200 x practice missiles 
			   
			 AY No more than 500 x prohibited weapons and ammunition to which sections 5(1)(c) and 5(1A)(b) of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended applies 
			   
			 BA 30 x AKM 7.62x39 rifles/50 x Dragunov 7.62x54 rifles/6 x PKM 7.62x54 machine guns/15 x RPG-7 rocket launchers/110 x RPG-7 Commando 5 rocket launchers/1 x 60 mm M90 mortar/1 x 81 mm M69B(D) mortar/1 x 120 mm M-75 mortar 
			   
			 XS 5 x German MG42 light machine guns 7.92 mm and 20 x spare barrels for same/3 x German MG34 light machine guns 7.92 mm and 20 x spare barrels for same /7 x Czech ZB30 light machine guns 7.92 mm and 20 x spare barrels for same/2 x British Vickers medium machine guns .303 cal and 20 x spare barrels for same/5 x Belgian MAG58 light machine guns 7.62 mm and 20 x spare barrels for same/5 x Danish Madsen light machine guns 7.92 mm and 20 x spare barrels for same /12 x US-1919A4 light machine guns 30-06 and 20 x spare barrels for same/20 x British L4A3 machine guns 7.62 mm/8 x German MP41 sub machine guns 9mm /15 x French MAT49 sub machine guns 9 mm/30 x British Sten sub machine guns 9 mm/13 x British L1A1 Automat rifles 7.62 mm/10 x US M1 carbines .30 cal 
			   
			 XS 8 x Czech VZ27 7.65 mm pistols/9 x Belgian 1910/22 7.65 mm pistols/1 x German7.65 mm Mauser pistol/1 x Polish Radom P-35 9 mm pistol/2 x German P-38 9 mm pistols 
			   
			 XS 50 x .50 cal M2HB Brownings/200 x PPSH41 7.62 sub machine guns/100 x MG42 7.92 light machine guns/20 x DP26 7.92 light machine guns 
			   
			 XS 150 x Browning .50 cal M2 heavy barrel machine guns 
			   
			 XS 8 x Czech VZ27 7.65 mm pistols/9 x Belgian 1910/22 7.65 mm pistols/1 x German7.65 mm Mauser pistol/1 x Polish Radom P-35 9 mm pistol/2 x German P.38 9 mm pistols 
			   
			 XS 5 x German MG42 light machine guns 7.92 mm and 20 x spare barrels for same /3 x German MG34 light machine guns 7.92 mm and 20 x spare barrels for same/7 x Czech ZB30 light machine guns 7.92 mm and 20 x spare barrels for same/2 x British Vickers medium machine guns .303 cal and 20 x spare barrels for same/5 x Belgian MAG58 light machine guns 7.62 mm and 20 x spare barrels for same/5x Danish Madsen light machine guns 7.92 mm and 20 x spare barrels for same/12x US-1919A4 light machine guns 30-06 c. and 20 x spare barrels for same/20 x British L4A3 machine guns 7.62 mm/8 x German MP41 sub machine guns 9 mm/15 x French MAT49 sub machine guns 9 mm/30 x British Sten sub machine guns 9 mm/13 x British L1A1 automatic rifles 7.62 mm /10 x US M1 carbines .30 cal. 
			   
			 XS 20 x DP26/28 7.92 light machine guns/200 x .30 cal. Browning 1919 light machine guns/500 x .45ACP Thompson sub machine guns/20 x Czech ZB 26/30 7.92 light machine guns/100 x MP44 7.92 automatic rifles/200 x MP40 9 mm sub machine guns 
			   
			 XS 13 x Tokarev 7.62x25 mm Pistols 
			   
			 XS 40 x Browning M2HB .50CAL heavy machine guns/200 x PPSH41 sub machine guns 7.62MM/100 x MG42 light machine guns 7.92mm/100 x MG34 light machine guns 7.92MM/20 x DP26 light machine guns 7.62MM

Businesses: Orders and Regulations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his most recent estimate is of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring cost of implementing the directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment in the UK to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Malcolm Wicks: The Regulatory Impact Assessment which accompanied the regulations estimated one-off costs to businesses to be in the region of £150 million. Recurring costs were estimated to be in the region of £70 million to £150 million per annum to businesses. The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has an agreement in place with the National Weights and Measures Laboratory to enforce the UK Regulations at a cost of £0.4 million per annum.

Businesses: Orders and Regulations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his most recent estimate is of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Malcolm Wicks: The Regulatory Impact Assessment which accompanied the regulations identified no significant one-off costs. Recurring costs to businesses were estimated to be between £23 million and £36 million per annum. Costs to the regulators are estimated to be £0.1 million per annum.

Businesses: Orders and Regulations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his most recent estimate is of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Malcolm Wicks: The Regulatory Impact Assessment which accompanied the regulations estimated one-off costs to businesses to be between £650 million and £850 million. Recurring costs were estimated to be between £8 million to £10 million per annum to businesses and between £0.4 million and £0.5 million per annum to the regulators.

Corruption

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent estimate he has made of the annual cost to the British economy of corruption.

Vernon Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
	The report on "Bribery and Corruption: Impact on UK Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs)" by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) states that
	"because of its clandestine nature, it is difficult to estimate the true extent and cost of the problem of bribery and corruption".
	Transparency International's Bribe-payers Index (BPI) aims to evaluate the supply side of corruption by asking business experts in emerging economies for their impressions of the likelihood that companies from the listed countries pay or offer bribes in their business activities. The UK is sixth out of 30 countries, the second G7 country and third EU country in the table.
	Mechanisms are in place to address offences of bribery committed overseas by UK nationals or UK registered bodies through Part 12 of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which clarified the application of existing bribery law to the bribery of foreign public office holders and gave our courts jurisdiction over such offences. DFID has recently committed funds to the City of London police to establish a dedicated police unit dealing solely with offences of bribery overseas.

Departments: Orders and Regulations

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many pages of regulations his Department laid before Parliament in 2006.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department put before Parliament 63 sets of regulations in 2006. However, we do not hold, centrally, information on the number of pages per set of regulations.
	Information is held on the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website, www.opsi.gov.uk, for every set of regulations.

Departments: Sales

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 8 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1167W, which fixed assets his Department sold for less than £10,000 in  (a) 2004-05 and  (b) 2005-06; and what the (i) sale value, (ii) purchaser and (iii) date of sale was of each asset.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Details of fixed assets sold by the Department of Trade and Industry for less than £10,000 during 2004-05 and 2005-06 are as follows:
	
		
			   Fixed asset type  Proceeds (£)  Purchaser  Date of sale 
			  (a)  2004-05
			  Microfabrication building(1) 1.00 Laboratory of the Government Chemist 31 August 2005 
			  
			  (b)  2005-06
			  Furniture 3,985.50 Defence Bills Agency 22 November 2005 
			  Furniture: cabinets—100 at £296.10 each 29,610.00 Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs 19 December 2005 
			  Furniture: cabinets—46 at £296.10 each 13,620.60 Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service 1 March 2006 
			  Total 47,216.10 — — 
			 (1) Due for demolition. Transferred to Laboratory of the Government Chemist for £1.00.

Departments: St. George's Day

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans his Department has to celebrate St. George's Day.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department of Trade and Industry plans to fly the St. George's flag on St. George's Day.

MG Rover

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether funds have been transferred from his Department's science budget to the budget for work associated with the collapse of MG Rover; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 8 March 2007
	DTI 2007-08 budgets face significant pressures. In order to manage these, the Department has identified budget reductions that will allow savings to be recycled to pressures. However it has also been necessary to use some of the accumulated unspent funds within the science budget to seek to manage these pressures. The pressures that require funding include, but are not limited to, the rescue package for British Energy, costs associated with the MG Rover collapse, pan European space projects and the implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. There will be no direct hypothecation of savings identified to individual pressures.

National Income: Europe

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which sub-regions in Europe have a gross value added rate under 75 per cent.

Margaret Hodge: Eurostat does not publish gross value added data, but instead publishes data for gross domestic product (GDP) for all regions and sub-regions in the European Union (EU). For the current round of structural funds, areas in receipt of convergence objective funding—the highest level of funding—were defined as those NUTS 2 regions with GDP per capita less than 75 per cent. of the EU average, expressed in terms of purchasing power parities (PPP), using the average of data for the years 2000, 2001 and 2002.
	The latest data available at NUTS 2 (sub-regional) level from Eurostat are for the year 2004. The following table shows all NUTS 2 regions in the EU with GDP per capita in 2004 less than 75 per cent. of the EU average, including all 27 current member states, in terms of PPP.
	
		
			  NUTS 2 region  GDP per capita as a percentage of EU27 average 
			  In Bulgaria:  
			 Yugozapaden 49.1 
			 Yugoiztochen 29.9 
			 Severoizto chen 29.3 
			 Severen tsentralen 26.4 
			 Severozapaden 25.6 
			 Yuzhen tsentralen 25.6 
			   
			  In the Czech Republic:  
			 Stredni Cechy 69.9 
			 Jihozapad 69.6 
			 Jihovychod 67.4 
			 Severovychod 63.7 
			 Moravskoslezsko 61.1 
			 Severozapad 60.7 
			 Stredni Morava 59.8 
			   
			  Estonia 55.7 
			   
			  In Spain:  
			 Extremadura 67.1 
			   
			  In France:  
			 Martinique 74.3 
			 Guadeloupe 66.9 
			 Reunion 60.5 
			 Guyane 54.4 
			   
			  In Greece:  
			 Peloponnisos 69.0 
			 Kentriki Makedonia 68.2 
			 Ipeiros 67.5 
			 Thessalia 66.3 
			 Dytiki Makedonia 62.7 
			 Voreio Aigaio 60.6 
			 Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki 56.7 
			 Dytiki Ellada 54.5 
			   
			  In Hungary:  
			 Nyugat-Dunantul 66.8 
			 Kozep-Dunantul 61.1 
			 Del-Dunantul 45.6 
			 Del-Alfold 44.2 
			 Eszak-Magyarorszag 42.5 
			 Eszak-Alfold 41.9 
			   
			  In Italy:  
			 Puglia 69.8 
			 Calabria 68.5 
			 Campania 68.4 
			 Sicilia 67.3 
			   
			  Lithuania 51.1 
			   
			   
			  Latvia 45.5 
			   
			  Malta 74.4 
			   
			  In Poland:  
			 Slaskie 57.0 
			 Wielkopolskie 54.5 
			 Dolnoslaskie 51.7 
			 Pomorskie 49.6 
			 Zachodniopomorskie 47.2 
			 Lodzkie 46.7 
			 Lubuskie 45.4 
			 Kujawsko-Pomorskie 45.4 
			 Opolskie 43.6 
			 Malopolskie 43.4 
			 Warminsko-Mazurskie 39.4 
			 Swietokrzyskie 39.3 
			 Podlaskie 37.9 
			 Podkarpackie 35.4 
			 Lubelskie 35.2 
			   
			  In Portugal:  
			 Alentejo 70.3 
			 Regiao Autonoma dos Açores 65.9 
			 Centra 64.3 
			 Norte 58.8 
			   
			  In Romania:  
			 Bucuresti - Ilfov 64.5 
			 Vest 39.0 
			 Centra 35.5 
			 Nord-Vest 33.0 
			 Sud-Est 30.7 
			 Sud-Vest Oltenia 28.8 
			 Sud - Muntenia 28.4 
			 Nord-Est 23.6 
			   
			  In Slovakia:  
			 Zapadne Slovensko 52.7 
			 Stredne Slovensko 46.7 
			 Vychodne Slovensko 42.3

Post Office: Rural Areas

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the proportion of people in rural areas who use post offices regularly; and what research he has evaluated on that proportion.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department has considered information on post offices in rural areas from a range of sources including Postcomm, Post Office Ltd. and National Federation of Sub-Postmasters. Post Office Ltd.'s rural pilot activity report, published in March 2006, indicates that the rural network serves a rural population of 21 million people. However, analysis of customer usage levels also indicates that a total of 1,600 rural post offices serve fewer than 20 customers a day.

Research: Finance

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made on achieving the European Union target of three per cent. of GDP being allocated to research and development investment by 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 12 March 2007
	The aspiration for investment in R&D across EU countries to reach 3 per cent. of GDP by 2010 is a challenge for Europe as a whole. But it is not necessarily appropriate for an individual member state.
	In the light of UK circumstances, the 10-year Science and Innovation Framework set out a long-term ambition to see the total R&D to GDP ratio in the UK increase to 2.5 per cent. of GDP by 2014. The R&D measure is the Gross Expenditure in Research and Development (GERD), which is the sum of R&D performed in business (BERD) and public expenditure on R&D, by Government Departments and higher education.
	The latest available GERD and BERD figures for the UK and the EU are in the following table.
	
		
			  GERD as per cent of GDP 
			   2003  2004 
			 United Kingdom 1.8 1.7 
			 EU25 1.8 1.8 
			 EU15 1.9 1.9 
		
	
	
		
			  BERD as per cent of GDP 
			   2003  2004  2005 
			 United Kingdom 1.1 1.1 1.1 
			 EU25 1.1 1.1 1.1 
			 EU15 1.2 1.2 1.2

Research: Finance

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment has been made by his Department of the possible effect on international competitiveness in  (a) biosciences,  (b) engineering sciences and  (c) medical research of the 2007-08 reduction in funding to the UK Research Councils; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 12 March 2007
	In order to help to manage the significant pressures on the Department's budget in 2007-08, a decision has been made to use some of the accumulated unspent funds within the science budget. This decision will not affect research projects which are already being funded.
	The UK has a strong track record in research excellence, and benefits from a consistently good performance across disciplines. On the basis of an independent report, it is currently ranked second in the world in biosciences and health-related sciences, and fourth in engineering. The report is available on the DTI website at:
	http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file27330.pdf

Research: Finance

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he plans to assess the impact on scientific research of the planned reduction in funding to UK Research Councils in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 12 March 2007
	In order to help to manage the significant pressures on the Department's budget in 2007-08, a decision has been made to use some of the accumulated unspent funds within the science budget. This decision will not affect research projects which are already being funded. The sum in question amounts to less that 1 per cent. of the nearly £10 billion awarded to science over the three-year spending period.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1602W.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Drinking Water

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what consideration the House authorities have given to providing filtered tap water as an alternative to bottled water in committee and meeting rooms; and what estimate has been made of the costs of providing  (a) tap and  (b) bottled water in these rooms in 2007-08.

Nick Harvey: The Serjeant at Arms has submitted a paper on the provision of water to committees for the Administration Committee's meeting on 13 March.

Freedom of Information

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1451W, on Freedom of Information, whether the log of FOI requests is available for inspection by hon. Members.

Nick Harvey: The logs used to track the House's responses to FOI requests are maintained on computer spreadsheets. The logs include personal data relating to requesters and other third parties, a brief summary of the request and an indication of any exemption that might have been applied. Rather than providing full details of each request and response, each log makes reference to documents held in electronic and paper format; it is these documents that provide information relating to the full text of the request and the exact nature of the response. Therefore, in their current form, the logs are not available for general inspection by hon. Members. Further consideration will be given to producing and making available for inspection a summary of requests and responses. I will write to the hon. Member with the outcome of that work in due course.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Business Rates

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average business rates bill was in  (a) England and  (b) each government office region in England in each year since 1996-97; and what she estimates it will be in 2006-07.

Phil Woolas: The average business rates bill (in £s) in both England and in each Government Office region in each year since 1996-97, including the estimated average figures for 2006-07, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   North East  North West  Yorkshire and the Humber  East Midlands  West Midlands  East of England  London  South East  South West  England 
			 1996-97 5,335 4,895 5,235 5,454 5,335 6,873 11,921 7,432 4,881 6,804 
			 1997-98 5,501 5,215 5,381 5,716 5,686 7,026 10,057 7,208 7,087 6,796 
			 1998-99 5,978 5,589 5,869 6,142 6,250 7,125 10,433 7,759 5,295 7,016 
			 1999-2000 6,159 5,770 6,005 6,251 6,487 7,080 9,792 7,796 5,412 6,998 
			 2000-01 6,968 6,825 6,954 7,237 7,588 8,096 12,033 9,212 6,332 8,264 
			 2001-02 7,305 7,273 7,433 7,670 7,756 8,476 12,842 9,705 6,570 8,714 
			 2002-03 7,498 7,646 7,664 7,846 8,003 8,685 13,753 10,045 6,658 9,071 
			 2003-04 7,518 7,708 7,623 7,893 8,055 8,620 14,124 10,053 6,614 9,137 
			 2004-05 7,701 7,793 7,773 7,955 8,192 8,740 14,484 10,252 6,662 9,301 
			 2005-06 8,367 8,086 8,317 8,477 8,672 9,575 15,705 11,124 7,195 9,997 
			 2006-07 8,892 8,789 8,731 9,221 9,041 10,085 16,561 11,804 7,624 10,601 
		
	
	The data are taken from NNDR returns submitted by billing authorities. Average business rate is calculated by dividing the net rate yield from local authority's lists by the number of hereditaments on local list as at 31 December of the previous year.
	Comparisons across regions and years may not be valid as the rateable values for individual properties, and hence actual rates bills, vary greatly. Changes in the figures for the years around 2000-01 are affected by transfers of properties from the central list to local lists, transfers of Crown properties to local lists and the adjustments made to the multiplier at the time of the 2000 revaluation to take account of losses from appeals. Changes in the figures for the years around 2005-06 are also affected by adjustments made to the multiplier at the time of the 2005 revaluation.

Energy: Conservation

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to publish the conclusions of her inter-departmental taskforce on the improvement of energy performance in existing buildings.

Yvette Cooper: The Review of the Sustainability of Existing Buildings is looking at improving the performance of existing buildings in terms of their water efficiency and resilience to climate change, as well as energy efficiency. An initial analysis of the energy efficiency of existing dwellings was published on the CLG website in November 2006 and further work is under way.

Fire Services: Costs

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the rental cost of each regional fire control centre, over the full period of its lease, inclusive of VAT and increases produced by the mechanism for future regular rental upratings.

Angela Smith: The rental costs of each Regional Control Centre (RCC) are shown in the following table. The costs given are over the full period of the lease, inclusive of VAT and uplifted in line with the terms of the lease. The costs, other than for London, are based on rents agreed with the developer of each RCC. Procurement of the London RCC is in progress. RCCs should be able to recover the VAT.
	
		
			  RCC  Estimated cost (£ million)  Lease term (years) 
			 East Midlands 45 25 
			 East of England 50 25 
			 North East 31 20 
			 North West 45 25 
			 South East 54 25 
			 South West 34 20 
			 West Midlands 50 25 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 33 20

Fire Services: Costs

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which public body will pay the rental cost of each regional fire control centre from the date at which rent is payable until each emergency fire control in each region has migrated to the relevant regional control centre.

Angela Smith: In the period between the practical completion of a Regional Control Centre (RCC) building and the migration of the Fire Control system to that centre, the accommodation costs (including rent and facilities management) will be met by the Department for Communities and Local Government. During that period the building will be fitted out, the IT installed and tested and staff trained.

Home Information Packs

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department has spent on  (a) administration,  (b) legal fees,  (c) special advisers,  (d) the website and  (e) other costs for the home information packs programme; and what funding was originally allocated to the programme.

Yvette Cooper: The following table indicates how much the Department of Communities and Local Government has spent on administration, legal fees, external advisers, the website and other costs associated with the Home Information Pack Programme from April 2004 up to the end of January 2007. Consumers spend billions of pounds each year on the transaction costs they incur when buying and selling homes. HIPs are designed to cut waste from home buying and selling as well as providing important energy information to help cut carbon emissions. The money has been spent on: developing and testing the home condition report and other components of the pack; putting in place a quality assurance framework to protect consumers and guarantee standards; developing the necessary systems; and explaining the changes to the public and industry stakeholders.
	
		
			   Total (£) 
			 Admin spend—including salaries of those working on HIPs policy and implementation 1,529,450 
			 Legal fees 153,903 
			 External advisers 5,52,629 
			 Website 103,588 
			 Other costs—including research and area trials 2,645,151 
			 Communications 1,800,004 
			 Total programme spend 10,155,275 
			 Grand total (1) 11,684,725 
			 (1 )Expenditure as recorded in the Department's accounting system from April 2004 to January 2007 inclusive.  The budget for the programme for the period 2004-05 to 2006-07 is £16 million.

Home Inspectors

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the suspension of the two consultants employed by her Department in relation to the regulation of home inspectors; and what communications her Department has had with the  (a) Office of Government Commerce and  (b) National Audit Office on the matter.

Yvette Cooper: The Department looked into this matter and concluded that it would not be using these consultants' services any further. The NAO are now conducting an inquiry into the role played by the consultants in question.
	All three certification schemes approved have been assessed by a panel with the independent chair nominated by OGC, without the involvement of the consultants referred to.

Lighting: Pollution

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she will consult on draft guidance on light pollution; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: Policy responsibility for statutory nuisance from artificial light rests with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Planning controls which provide an important mechanism for limiting the effects of light pollution are the responsibility of Communities and Local Government. This means that the two Departments work closely together on this subject and are currently collaborating on the preparation of planning guidance for local planning authorities on light pollution covering both planning and pollution aspects. We will consult on this draft as soon as possible.

Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Scheme

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on introducing the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Scheme; and what the cost of administering the scheme was in 2005-06.

Phil Woolas: The Department cannot provide a breakdown of the costs involved in setting up and administering the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Scheme. The Department does not monitor resource at this level of detail.

Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Scheme

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average time taken to process a Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Scheme award has been since the Scheme's inception; and what proportion of awards have been paid on time.

Phil Woolas: Valuation Office Agency source data are provided to this Department in January of each year for the purpose of calculating Local Authority Business Growth Incentive (LABGI) Scheme awards. Announcements of LABGI grant determinations are then made in February of each year. In the first two years of the scheme, this commitment to provide these determinations in February has been met. In both cases, payments followed in March.

Local Government Finance: Population Mobility

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research her Department  (a) has carried out and  (b) intends to carry out on the implications of population mobility on public service costs to local authorities.

Phil Woolas: Communities and Local Government have neither carried out or currently intend to carry out research on population mobility.
	However, officials will discuss research relating to the implications of population mobility on funding that has been undertaken by Local Government representatives in the Settlement Working Group meetings. These will be held between February and mid-June.

Local Government: Vacancies

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department issues to local authorities on the advertising of job vacancies.

Phil Woolas: The Department does not issue guidance to local authorities on the advertising of job vacancies. Local government is responsible for its own recruitment practices, and is subject to the same employment laws as other sectors.

Social Rented Housing: Standards

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1800W, which planning authorities in Hampshire are not applying the percentages for social housing set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 3.

Yvette Cooper: PPG3 has been superseded by PPS3, however there were no percentages for affordable housing set out in PPG3.
	PPS3 asks local authorities to set a target for the amount of affordable housing to be provided in their local development documents, based on an understanding of the needs of the area. PPS3 gives a national indicative site size threshold of 15 dwellings to which the policy should apply, although local planning authorities can set lower minimum thresholds where viable and practicable.

Thames Gateway: Bridges

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to make a decision on the Thames Gateway Bridge.

Meg Munn: We are currently reviewing the inspector's report, inquiry evidence and post-inquiry representations. A decision regarding the Thames Gateway bridge proposal will be issued as soon as possible.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan: Peace Keeping Operations

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps she is taking to encourage NATO countries to send additional forces to Afghanistan.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friends the Defence Secretary, the Foreign Secretary and other Ministers are in regular contact with our NATO counterparts to ensure that commanders on the ground have access to the resources they need to carry out the International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF) mission and to ensure NATO Allies regularly review their contributions to Afghanistan. At the recent NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Brussels, 26 January, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary reaffirmed the need for all NATO Allies to play their part in ensuring ISAF's success. Military advice on force and capability requirements is provided by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe using the force generation process.

Afghanistan: Peace Keeping Operations

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2007,  Official Report, column 992W, on Afghanistan: peace keeping operations, what she expects the UK contribution to the European Security and Defence Policy mission to Afghanistan to be.

Kim Howells: On 12 February, the General Affairs and External Relations Council of the European Union approved the concept of a European security and defence policy mission to Afghanistan in the field of policing with linkages to the wider rule of law. Discussions are under way in Brussels on the development of a Concept of Operations (CONOPS), which will detail the composition, objectives and cost of the mission. We plan to contribute to the mission but are awaiting the issuance of the CONOPS to determine the exact form and extent of our participation.
	I also refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave him on 23 February 2007,  Official Report, column 992W.

Africa: Illegal Immigrants

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with the  (a) Mauritanian and  (b) Libyan Governments on port security and illegal immigration from Africa.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not discussed the issue of port security or illegal migration from Africa with either the Government of Mauritania or the Government of Libya. We continue to discuss these important issues with both Governments at a working level.

Albania: EC Enlargement

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether she has received requests from Albania for UK assistance in that country's efforts to meet the criteria for EU membership.

Geoff Hoon: The UK has been working for some time to assist the Government of Albania in their efforts to meet the criteria for EU membership. The UK contributes politically through the EU's Stabilisation and Association process and practically through Government-funded projects in the country which focus on developing administrative and technical capacity.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Children

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when she expects the United Nations Envoy on Children and Armed Conflict to report following her mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ian McCartney: The United Nations Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict, Ms Radhika Coomaraswamy, visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between 4-9 March. She will brief the diplomatic community on return to New York after 14 March.
	The Special Representative's visit aims to ensure greater protection for children as the DRC emerges from years of civil war. She will discuss with the Congolese Government the issues of children associated with armed groups, sexual violence and impunity.
	Progress on disarmament and demobilisation of child soldiers in the DRC has been relatively successful. But their reintegration back into society has been slow. The UK has given £15 million to the World Bank-led regional multi-country demobilisation and reintegration programme and £3 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross for programmes including child reintegration. We will continue to press the new DRC Government to take responsibility for reintegration and make it a priority.

European Union: Constitution

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will provide for a referendum on any proposed EU constitution.

Geoff Hoon: The Government have confirmed repeatedly that the treaty establishing a constitution for Europe would be ratified by the UK only after a positive vote in a referendum. However, there is no consensus at present among EU member states on the future of the constitutional treaty. The way forward will be discussed at the European Council in June. The Government make no presumption regarding the outcome of these discussions and will not speculate about their outcome.

Foreign Relations

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received of  (a) the meeting of the foreign ministers of India, China and Russia in Delhi on 14 February 2007 and  (b) the outcomes of the meeting.

Kim Howells: Our High Commission in Delhi regularly reports on India's foreign policy and relations with third countries, including emerging groupings such as the India-Russia-China forum. A Joint Communique was issued after the meeting held on 14 February in Delhi. In their joint statement, the Ministers reaffirmed that trilateral co-operation was not directed against the interests of any other country and was, on the contrary, intended to promote international harmony and understanding and find common ground amidst divergent interests. They also emphasised the strong commitment of India, Russia and China to multilateral diplomacy. The full text of the statement can be found at:
	http://www.mea.gov.in/declarestatement/2007/02/14js01.htm.

Guinea: Armed Conflict

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received on recent protests and conflict in Guinea; and what representations she has made to the Government of Guinea on the imposition of martial law by President Lansana Conte.

Ian McCartney: We have been concerned by recent events in Guinea and regret the loss of life resulting from clashes between protesters and security forces. In conjunction with the EU and other international partners in Conakry, our ambassador has made several representations to the Guinean Government expressing our concern and our hope that all issues could be resolved peacefully and constitutionally. We note, and welcome, the lifting of martial law on 23 February, the end to the national strike, and the appointment of Lansana Couyate as the new Guinean Premier. We hope that Mr. Couyate will move soon to appoint a new, broadly-based and consensual Government to move Guinea forward.

North Korea

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received on the progress of the six party talks on North Korea in Beijing.

Ian McCartney: The latest round of six party talks (6PT) ended in agreement on 13 February with all parties renewing their commitment to the Joint Statement of 19 September 2005. Specifically the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear facility and allow inspections by International Atomic Energy Agency personnel. In return, the parties have agreed to provide economic, energy and humanitarian assistance to the DPRK up to the equivalent of one million tons of heavy fuel oil. The agreement also establishes five working groups tasked with formulating plans to implement the Joint Statement. They will focus on DPRK-US relations, DPRK-Japan relations, denuclearisation, economy and energy co-operation and Northeast Asia Peace and Security Mechanism. The next round of the 6PT is scheduled to take place on 19 March, before which it is expected that all five working groups will have had a chance to hold initial discussions.

North Korea

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with her US counterparts on the amount of Voice of America broadcasting to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Ian McCartney: The issue has not been raised with my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary. However, we understand the US Administration has requested an increase in funding from US$4.6 million to US$8 million for the Korean services of Voice of America and Radio Free Asia for the next financial year.

North Korea

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made to her US counterpart on recent talks between the US and North Korea in New York.

Ian McCartney: The US and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held bilateral talks earlier this week in New York as part of the agreement reached at the latest round of the six party talks on 13 February. The discussions provided an opportunity for both sides to discuss bilateral concerns in an attempt to move towards normalisation of relations between the two countries. Given that these were bilateral meetings, the UK did not make any representations. Both countries have reported that the talks were constructive and a wide range of issues were covered.
	The agreement reached on 13 February is a step in the right direction towards the peaceful denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. The UK will take every opportunity to urge the DPRK to fulfil the commitments it has entered into.

Philippines

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make arrangements for a visit to the Philippines to promote British interests there.

Ian McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no current plans to visit the Philippines. However, my hon. Friend the Minister for the Middle East plans to visit the region. The bilateral relationship between the UK and the Philippines is good, with strong political, trade and investment links. We work closely with the Philippino Government on key areas of shared concern including counter-terrorism, human rights, development, conflict prevention and peace building.

Russia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans she has to increase the number of ministerial visits to Russia to improve relations with that country.

Geoff Hoon: There were 15 ministerial visits to Russia in 2006, including my visit to Moscow in September. Russia's presidency of the G8 ensured a large number of ministerial visits and official contact during the year.
	Russia remains an important partner in achieving the Government's International Strategic Priorities across a range of foreign policy issues. We shall look to take whatever practical opportunities arise to maintain direct productive contacts at ministerial level both here and in Russia. The most recent ministerial visit to Russia was by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, in February 2007.

Sakhalin Island: Pipelines

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance the Government is giving to British oil companies to negotiate with Russian authorities on the Sakhalin project.

Geoff Hoon: The Government have remained in close touch with the investors during their negotiations with the Russian authorities on the Sakhalin II project. Commercial negotiations between the investors and the Russian authorities regarding future project arrangements concluded in December 2006, and are now in the implementation phase.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry raised the issue with his Russian counterpart in February 2007 and we continue to monitor the situation.

Somalia: Terrorism

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of  (a) recent attacks on Mogadishu's airport and  (b) the effect such attacks will have on the work of African Union peacekeepers in Somalia.

Ian McCartney: We have noted that mortar attacks on Mogadishu airport have taken place, most recently on 6 March. Despite efforts by the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia some rogue elements continue to mount limited attacks. We condemn those responsible for the recent attacks in Mogadishu and call on all parties to reject violence and commit to peaceful dialogue.
	We cannot predict the effect any further attacks will have on the work of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). However, we hope that the arrival of the AMISOM will help to improve security in Somalia.

Sri Lanka

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made to the Government of Sri Lanka on the position of Tamil civilians who reside in areas where there have been military encounters with militants for the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary expressed to the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama, whom she met in London on 7 March, the Government's serious concern at the humanitarian impact of the conflict and the cost in terms of violence to the civilian population of Sri Lanka. The full text of my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's statement following their meeting is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at:
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagenanie=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029391629&a=KArticle&aid=l171458466111.

Sri Lanka

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received on the recent arrests of Sri Lankan policeman and soldiers in connection with a series of abductions and killings across the country; and what recent assessment she has made of the impartiality of the Sri Lankan armed and police forces.

Kim Howells: We have previously raised with the Sri Lankan Government our concern that their national forces are not taking effective measures to safeguard civilians. This followed credible reports of a number of instances where it appeared that the actions of those forces had resulted in the loss of civilian life. Although there has been some media reporting, we have not received any specific reports on the allegations or the circumstances of the arrests currently in question.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made clear our concern, for the many Sri Lankan civilians who have become victims of violence since the escalation of the conflict, when she met with Rohitha Bogollagama, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, on 7 March. Promoting reform in the security sector to improve accountability and promote adherence to internationally accepted human rights standards is a key strand of the UK's Peace Building Strategy in Sri Lanka. The Global Conflict Prevention Pool, a Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence administered fund, supports this work.

Sri Lanka

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received from the Norwegian-led Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission; and whether her Department has a standing information sharing agreement with the Mission.

Kim Howells: There is no formal agreement for the sharing of information between the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the Government. The SLMM was created as an integral part of the Cease-Fire Agreement and receives its mandate from and reports to the parties to the 2002 Sri Lanka Cease-Fire Agreement. We are not a party to that agreement. We do, however, through our High Commission in Colombo have routine contacts with the SLMM as well as with other organisations and actors in the Sri Lankan peace process.

Sri Lanka: Arms Trade

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent estimate she has made of the amount of arms entering Sri Lanka; and what assessment she has made of the effect of the entry of arms into the country on the peace process there.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary clearly expressed our view that no party to the conflict will prevail through a military solution alone when she met the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister on 7 March. The availability of illegally-imported weaponry, while not a cause of the conflict in itself, is undoubtedly an aggravating factor and one which acts to prolong the conflict in Sri Lanka. Through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool (a Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence administered fund), the Government are working with Saferworld to help the Sri Lankans to develop a national strategy to counter the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response the UK has made to the recent peace agreement in East Sudan.

Ian McCartney: We welcome the conclusion of the Peace Agreement on eastern Sudan between the Government of Sudan and the Eastern Front rebel group in Asmara on 14 October 2006. We hope that the Agreement will form the basis for lasting peace and security in eastern Sudan. We call on the parties to continue to work together to achieve this.

Sudan: Oil

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had on a potential oil embargo on Sudan with EU counterparts.

Ian McCartney: Recent discussions with our EU partners have focussed on building support for further targeted sanctions against individuals involved in the Darfur conflict and an extension of the existing UN arms embargo on Darfur to the whole of Sudan. We have made it clear to partners that we believe further measures will be necessary if this package does not deliver the requisite co-operation from the parties to the conflict in Darfur.

Tajikistan: Religious Freedom

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support she is making available to promote legislation in Tajikistan that respects the freedoms of all religious communities and individuals; and what representations she has made to the UN Tajikistan Office of Peace-Building on the promotion of freedom of religion.

Geoff Hoon: Our ambassador in Dushanbe, together with his EU colleagues, is following developments relating to the draft law on religious organisations extremely closely.
	The UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir, recently visited Tajikistan to examine questions related to respect for freedom of religious communities and individuals. The UN special rapporteur will present a report of her visit to the UN Human Rights Council.
	The UK has funded a wide range of projects in Tajikistan which support the development of independent media and civil society. We also work closely with the international community in Tajikistan, including with the UN Tajikistan Office of Peace-building and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, who have programmes on developing civil society, promoting good governance and monitoring human rights.

Timor-Leste

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received on the situation in East Timor.

Ian McCartney: Our Embassy in Jakarta covers East Timorese affairs with the assistance of our Honorary Consul in Dili. They provide regular reports on developments in East Timor. The Embassy deployed a team of four officials to Dili on 7 March to assess the situation on the ground and to ensure that consular arrangements for British nationals are sufficiently rigorous. They reported that Dili was calm at the time of their arrival, but that the security situation remains fragile and susceptible to change at any moment.
	We are concerned by the deterioration of the security situation in East Timor and the resulting casualties and have urged all concerned to bring an end to the violence and resolve the problems within the framework of the constitution and laws.

Timor-Leste

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions she has had with the United Nations envoy in Timor-Leste on progress with the peace process there.

Ian McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not had any discussions with the special representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) to East Timor. However, the UK has played a key role in the UN Security Council to ensure a robust UN Mission to East Timor has been put in place in Dili, focusing on areas of potential instability and conflict. Our officials in New York and Dili have met with the SRSG on a number of occasions. We have highlighted the importance of political reconciliation and the need for timely, peaceful and fair elections as an important part of the peace process. The UN Mission has a key role to play in public education, facilitation of political dialogue and assistance with electoral organisation. It is also working to achieve early progress in Security Sector Reform and the judicial sector, not least to ensure that elections take place in a framework that provides for long-lasting stability.

Uganda: Human Rights

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received on Government action against High Court judges in Uganda; what assessment she has made of the implications of such activity for  (a) human rights,  (b) democracy and  (c) Commonwealth activity in Uganda.

Kim Howells: We are monitoring events surrounding the detention of the alleged People's Redemption Army suspects and the related court proceedings. The violence used by the Government forces at the Uganda High Court on 1 March to frustrate the decision of the High Court to grant the suspects bail has grave implications for the independence of the judiciary, respect for the rule of law and human rights in Uganda. The Uganda judiciary remains on strike in protest at these events.
	Our high commissioner in Kampala made representations to the acting Foreign Minister, Henry Okello Oryem, on 2 March. My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, raised our concerns with the Ugandan high commissioner in London on 5 March. We are liaising with other international partners, including the Commonwealth Secretariat. We will continue to press all sides to respect the rule of law and abide by the constitution.

Uganda: Judiciary

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the freedom of the judiciary in Uganda.

Ian McCartney: The Ugandan judiciary has been relatively free of political interference in recent years. However we are concerned about recent events surrounding the detention of the alleged People's Redemption Army suspects. The violence used by the Government forces at the Uganda High Court on 1 March to frustrate the decision of the High Court to grant the suspects bail has grave implications for the independence of the judiciary, respect for the rule of law and human rights in Uganda. The Uganda judiciary remains on strike in protest at these events.
	Our high commissioner in Kampala made representations to the acting Foreign Minister, Henry Okello Oryem, on 2 March. My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, raised our concerns with the Ugandan high commissioner in London on 5 March. We will continue to press all sides to respect the rule of law and abide by the constitution.

Ukraine: EU Enlargement

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on Ukraine joining the European Union.

Kim Howells: The Government support Ukraine's policy of EU integration and firmly believe that the door to eventual membership should remain open. Article 49 of the treaty on EU states that any European country may apply for membership if it respects the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law. The Government believe that enlargement has proved our strongest tool for spreading stability and prosperity in Europe.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was allocated to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service for 2006-07; and what the outturn spending is expected to be.

Parmjit Dhanda: £106,003,000 was allocated to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service for 2006-07. CAFCASS spent £25,401,400 in the third quarter of 2006-07.

Children: Day Care

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on his proposals for wraparound child care to be introduced; when such proposals will be published; what representations he has received on such proposals; and how much has been allocated to the initiative;
	(2)  which schools will qualify for wraparound funding.

Beverley Hughes: We want all schools to offer access to extended services by 2010, providing a core offer of activities, with at least half of all primary and a third of secondary schools doing so by 2008. Primary schools are expected to provide, as part of the core offer, access to affordable child care at or through their school from 8 am to 6 pm all year round linked to a varied menu of activities. Secondary schools are not expected to offer formal child care but they are expected to provide access to a varied menu of activities (study support activities such as sports clubs, music tuition, dance, drama and art clubs) before and after school from 8 am to 6 pm and during the school holidays in response to demand. Our proposals for access to wraparound child care through schools were first published in our 10- year child care strategy "Choice for parents, the best start for children" in December 2004. We published further details in June 2005 in the Extended Schools Prospectus "Extended schools: Access to opportunities and services for all". We have received a number of formal and informal representations on this, including a number of parliamentary questions on this subject over the past two years.
	We are providing £680 million over 2006-08 to support schools in developing access to extended services. £430 million is being routed via local authorities through the Standards Fund and the General Sure Start Grant, £250 million directly to schools through the School Standards Grant (SSG). Currently, over 4,000 schools are providing access to the core offer of extended services.

City Academies: Contracts

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what advice and guidance is given to academies which intend to contract for commercial services with their sponsor.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 8 March 2007
	The general requirements relating to the procurement of goods and services are set out in the Academies Financial Handbook, which the Department issues to all academies. This includes the requirement for probity in procurement, to demonstrate that all parties are dealt with on a fair and equitable basis and to ensure that there is no private gain. In particular the Financial Handbook requires governors, including sponsor governors, to make formal declarations of their interests in external businesses and to withdraw from any discussions regarding potential contracting with that business.
	In addition to any advice—or indeed directions—which the Department may give to academy trusts in relation to the procurement of goods and services, the law also precludes the payment of any charitable trustee—including the governors of an academy, of which the sponsor is one—unless legal authority for that payment is given in the charity's governing documents, or otherwise granted by a court or the Charity Commission.
	The Charity Commission approves the governing documents of all companies proposed to be registered charities prior to granting registration, to ensure that any provisions conferring authority on the charity to make a payment to one of the trustees—or a company associated with a trustee—deal with conflicts of interest in a transparent manner.
	All academy trusts use the Department's model memorandum and articles of association as a basis for their own, and these include standard conflict of interest provisions recommended by the Charity Commission. These typically require any trustee of the company, who has an interest in a particular contract, to withdraw from discussions in relation to such a contract. In order to comply with these provisions, a sponsor of an academy trust would, for example, be required to withdraw from any meetings at which a discussion took place on the proposed remuneration of either themselves, or a company with which they are associated.
	Furthermore, Charity Law places an obligation on charitable trustees to act in the best interests of their respective charities, and contracting with a company in the knowledge that this might not be at the best terms available to the charity, would obviously be contrary to this obligation.
	Advice and guidance is also provided through the designated Project Lead within the Department, and academies are also referred to the Public Procurement Regulations 2006.

Computing Industry

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what policies his Department is implementing to ensure that there will be sufficient qualified graduates to meet the demands of the UK computing industry.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Government are committed to increasing the number of young people taking science and mathematics at advanced level and progressing to study science at university and beyond. "The Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004-2014: Next Steps", published in March 2006, sets out a range of measures to support this.
	The latest UCAS figures showing applicants for entry to higher education in 2007 show an increase of 10 per cent. in students studying mathematics and an increase of 15.8 per cent. in students studying mathematics and computer science combined.
	eskills UK, the Sector Skills Council for IT and telecoms, has developed, along with employers in the IT sector, the IT Management for Business (ITMB) hons degree. eskills UK has also developed foundation degrees for the IT, telecoms and contact centre sectors, all designed to ensure that graduates get the combination of business and technical skills that are vital to business today and tomorrow.

Departments: Discrimination

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress his Department has made in achieving gender equality in public appointments to bodies which fall within his Department's responsibility since 1997.

Parmjit Dhanda: holding answer 5 March 2007
	The Government remain committed to improving diversity on the boards of public bodies and the principle of equal representation of women and men in public appointments.
	The annual Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies" contains details of the number of women appointed to public bodies each year by Department. For 1997-2006 copies of these documents are available in the Library for the reference of Members. From 1998 copies are also available on the internet at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/other/agencies/public_bodies/
	During 2006, women represented 31.6 per cent. of the public appointments made to non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). In January 2007, 31 per cent. of total public appointments in DfES's NDPBs were held by women.
	In 1997, 23.6 per cent. of public appointments made to NDPBs by the Department for Education and Employment were held by women. Subsequent Machinery of Government changes mean that there is no direct comparison between public appointments in 1997 and in 2006.

Departments: St. George's Day

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans his Department has to celebrate St. George's Day.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department for Education and Skills has no plans to celebrate St. George's day.

Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2000

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) recurring cost of implementing the Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2000 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Bill Rammell: The regulatory impact assessment prepared for the 2000 regulations estimated the one-off costs to business to be between £40 million and £80 million over the first five years of operation from April 2000 (in net present value terms at 1999). Our most recent estimate of the recurring costs to business is in the region of £20 million per year.
	The one-off administrative costs incurred by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and the Student Loans Company in implementing student loan collection through the tax system was £16.25 million. In the 2005-06 financial year recurring administrative costs amounted to £15.25 million.(1)
	(1) All costs are given on a UK wide basis.

Education: Greater London

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 14 year old  (a) boys and  (b) girls reached each level in the national curriculum tests in (i) English, (ii) mathematics and (iii) science in each London education authority in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: The information requested has been placed in the House Library.

Higher Education: Student Numbers

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications were made to  (a) university and  (b) Russell Group universities in each year from 1996 to 2007, broken down by (i) socio-economic group and (ii) ethnicity.

Bill Rammell: The Department does not hold data on numbers of applications by type of institution and (i) socio-economic group, and (ii) ethnicity, or numbers of entrants by type of institution and socio-economic group prior to 2002/03. The latest available information relates to entrants to full-time undergraduate courses and is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Number of UK domiciled entrants to full-time undergraduate( 1)  courses at UK higher education institutions by national statistics socio-economic classification all institutions and Russell Group institutions—academic years 2002/03 to 2005/06 
			   2002/03  2003/04  2004/05  2005/06 
			Of which:   Of which:   Of which:   Of which: 
			  Socio-economic status (NS-SEC)  All HEIs  Russell Group  All HEIs  Russell Group  All HEIs  Russell Group  All HEIs  Russell Group 
			 1-3(2) 151,100 41,965 166,040 47,165 167,330 47,840 171,420 45,890 
			 4-7(3) 67,300 10,445 73,940 11,535 72,665 11,680 78,830 11,465 
			 Total known 218,400 52,410 239,975 58,700 239,995 59,520 250,250 57,355 
			  Of which: 
			  Percentage from: 
			 1-3(2) 69.2 80.1 69.2 80.4 69.7 80.4 68.5 80.0 
			 4-7(3) 30.8 19.9 30.8 19.6 30.3 19.6 31.5 20.0 
			  
			 Not known(4) 137,070 18,585 119,415 11,920 119,465 11,600 128,770 14,110 
			 Total 355,470 70,995 359,390 70,620 359,460 71,120 379,020 71,465 
			 (1) Includes first degrees, foundation degrees, higher national diplomas, higher national certificates and diplomas of higher education only. (2) Includes higher managerial and professional occupations, lower managerial and professional occupations and intermediate occupations. (3) Includes small employers and own account workers, lower supervisory and technical occupations, semi-routine occupations and routine occupations. (4) Includes entrants who did not state their parental occupation, those who had never worked, those who were long term unemployed and those for whom it was not possible to derive the NS-SEC.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)  Notes: Figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 December and are rounded to the nearest 5, therefore components may not sum to totals. 
		
	
	Despite the claims that some have made that the variable fee system would put off those from less well off backgrounds, the latest UCAS figures for students applying for entry in autumn 2007 indicate that this has not happened. The figures indicate that although applicants from less affluent families are still in the minority, since 2005 there has been a bigger year-on-year percentage increase from applicants from the lower socio-economic groups than from applicants from more affluent backgrounds. As a result, the proportion of applicants who are from the lower socio-economic groups has risen from 30.9 per cent. in 2005 to 31.3 per cent. this year.
	
		
			  Number of UK domiciled entrants to full-time undergraduate courses at UK higher education institutions by ethnicity all institutions and Russell Group institutions—academic years 1996/97 to 2000/01 
			   1996/97  1997/98  1998/99  1999/2000  2000/01 
			Of which:   Of which:   Of which:   Of which:   Of which: 
			  Ethnicity  All HEIs  Russell Group  All HEIs  Russell Group  All HEIs  Russell Group  All HEIs  Russell Group  All HEIs  Russell Group 
			 White 249,890 43,265 259,330 43,550 256,835 45,825 258,710 47,700 259,080 52,655 
			 Black Caribbean 4,180 145 4,310 155 3,955 160 3,710 190 3,725 190 
			 Black African 6,090 340 6,230 325 6,800 385 6,670 470 7,400 580 
			 Black other 1,755 85 1,945 100 2,060 140 2,120 135 2,305 175 
			 Indian 12,305 1,470 13,190 1,685 13,630 1,755 13,995 1,890 14,920 2,420 
			 Pakistani 6,745 605 7,215 610 7,380 595 7,680 695 8,075 865 
			 Bangladeshi 1,830 180 1,955 180 2,025 200 2,185 205 2,465 275 
			 Chinese 2,950 630 3,100 665 3,090 640 3,335 685 3,405 855 
			 Asian other 3,610 600 3,755 655 3,600 655 3,695 720 3,985 875 
			 Other 4,855 755 6,095 850 5,670 865 5,730 910 6,275 1,155 
			 Total known 294,205 48,070 307,115 48,780 305,035 51,225 307,825 53,590 311,630 60,040 
			
			 Information refused 16,485 2,430 16,645 4,555 15,340 3,375 9,400 860 8,395 1,330 
			 Information not yet sought 8,330 2,565 7,325 1,280 5,240 1,515 4,905 1,255 4,055 1,275 
			 Not known 2,315 600 4,040 890 5,755 870 6,130 935 6,925 965 
			 Total 321,335 53,665 335,130 55,505 331,370 56,985 328,265 56,640 331,005 63,610 
			  Notes: Figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 December and are rounded to the nearest 5.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of UK domiciled entrants to full-time undergraduate courses at UK higher education institutions by ethnicity: all institutions and Russell Group institutions—academic years 2001/02 to 2005/06 
			   2001/02  2002/03  2003/04  2004/05  2005/06 
			Of which:   Of which:   Of which:   Of which:   Of which: 
			  Ethnicity  All HEIs  Russell Group  All HEIs  Russell Group  All HEIs  Russell Group  All HEIs  Russell Group  All HEIs  Russell Group 
			 White 270,155 55,080 282,210 59,515 283,940 59,035 285,265 59,560 300,290 60,115 
			 Black or Black British— Caribbean 4,390 260 4,810 345 5,085 330 5,475 305 5,855 305 
			 Black or Black British—African 8,670 735 9,710 840 11,335 960 12,680 970 14,220 1,050 
			 Other Black background 1,310 85 1,540 80 1,500 100 1,410 90 1,490 75 
			 Asian or Asian British—Indian 15,670 2,725 15,695 2,865 15,375 2,835 15,245 2,870 15,475 2,845 
			 Asian or Asian British—Pakistani 9,060 1,045 9,215 1,115 9,290 1,130 9,415 1,200 9,765 1,150 
			 Asian or Asian British—Bangladeshi 2,735 320 2,730 340 2,865 295 3,565 370 3,745 300 
			 Chinese 3,755 995 3,870 1,090 3,735 1,100 3,905 1,135 3,820 1,100 
			 Other Asian background 3,940 850 4,230 985 4,015 940 4,300 995 4,700 975 
			 Mixed 5,435 1,275 6,560 1,575 7,305 1,695 8,330 1,890 9,880 2,035 
			 Other Ethnic background 2,970 500 2,840 470 2,905 420 3,110 480 3,655 565 
			 Total known 328,090 63,870 343,415 69,215 347,350 68,835 352,695 69,860 372,890 70,515 
			
			 Information refused 10,375 2,450 8,000 1,430 7,250 1,080 5,505 755 4,650 565 
			 Not known 11,265 1,505 9,240 1,000 10,120 1,165 7,205 1,220 7,800 1,685 
			 Total 349,730 67,825 360,655 71,640 364,720 71,080 365,410 71,835 385,340 72,765 
			  Note: Figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 December and are rounded to the nearest 5.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) 
		
	
	As the new ethnicity classification was introduced in 2001/02, the figures from 2001/02 are not directly comparable with the figures up to 2000/01.

Higher Education: Sunderland

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of people in  (a) Houghton and Washington East constituency and  (b) Sunderland city council area received a degree qualification in each year since 1997.

Bill Rammell: The latest available data on the number of graduates from Houghton and Washington, East constituency and Sunderland local authority for the academic years 1997/98 to 2005/06 are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of first degree graduates ( 1 ) from Houghton and Washington, East constituency and Sunderland local authority  English institutions—academic years 1997/98 to 2005/06 
			  Academic year  Houghton and Washington, East constituency  Sunderland local authority 
			 1997/98 280 925 
			 1998/99 265 975 
			 1999/2000 255 865 
			 2000/01 250 815 
			 2001/02 240 825 
			 2002/03 255 925 
			 2003/04 285 935 
			 2004/05 285 1,005 
			 2005/06 320 1,060 
			 (1) Excludes graduates from dormant modes of study.  Source:  Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). 
		
	
	Information on the percentage of people in Houghton and Washington, East constituency and Sunderland local authority who receive a degree qualification is not collated centrally.
	However, the percentage of working age adults educated to NVQ level 4 and above can be found from the Annual Population Survey.
	This shows that in 2005, the percentage of working age adults from Houghton and Washington, East constituency with NVQ4 and above qualifications is 15.7 per cent., the figure for Sunderland local authority is 16.6 per cent., and the comparable figure for England is 26.2 per cent.

Official Cars

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many cars run by his Department were manufactured  (a) in the UK and  (b) abroad.

Parmjit Dhanda: No cars belonging to the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) were manufactured in the UK. All cars were manufactured abroad.

School Meals

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  with which partnership the School Food Trust is working on its plans for regional training kitchens for the school food workforce; how many such kitchens there will be; and by what date it is planned that the kitchens will be operational;
	(2)  what discussions  (a) his Department and  (b) the School Food Trust have had with private sector companies on the provision and equipment of the proposed regional training kitchens.

Parmjit Dhanda: The School Food Trust (SFT) has been asked by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to lead on the establishment of regional training centres in recognition of the fact that the full range of training offered is likely to be broader than cooking skills. The SFT's aim is to establish the first of these in spring 2007 with a national network operational by the end of March 2008.
	A target for the number of RTCs has not been set. The final number will depend upon the number and quality of bids, and local needs.
	The SFT has been working with partners to develop criteria against which to judge applications to become regional training centres. These partners include school cooks, head teachers, local authorities, private sector catering providers, FE colleges, the Learning and Skills Council, People 1st, the Training and Development Agency, the Food Standards Agency, Department of Health and DfES. Two stakeholder events were held in Birmingham in January.

School Meals

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which baseline year he has selected by which to judge the School Food Trust's performance against its targets of increasing school meal uptake by four percentage points by March 2008 and 10 percentage points by autumn 2009; and how many school meals were consumed in that year.

Parmjit Dhanda: The School Food Trust's performance will be judged against the baseline information on school meals take-up set out in the report on the School Food Trust's first annual survey of take-up of school meals in England for the 2005/06 year. The School Food Trust's survey collected information on the percentage take-up of school meals in primary and secondary schools rather than on the number of school meals that were consumed. The Department did not collect information on the number of school meals that were consumed in 2005/06.

Schools: Greenwich

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much he estimates will be spent in the London Borough of Greenwich from the Building Schools for the Future budget on  (a) primary schools and  (b) secondary schools.

Jim Knight: Greenwich's wave 1 Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project has been allocated capital funding of £169 million (including ICT) on the basis of the outline business case approved in January 2005. This level of funding will be confirmed only when a final business case for the project is approved which is scheduled to happen later this year. The authority has a further project in wave 5 of BSF. The funding allocation for this project has yet to be agreed.
	Primary schools are not covered by BSF, but we are taking a similarly transformational approach to capital investment for the primary sector. The Primary Capital Programme aims to rebuild, remodel or refurbish at least half of all primary schools over the next 15 years. The programme will be rolled out nationally from 2009-10 when all local authorities, including Greenwich, will benefit from a share of £500 million of additional investment. This will be allocated by means of a simple, open formula—still to be determined. Subject to future Government spending decisions, we anticipate that the additional investment will continue at that level throughout the life of the programme.

Science: Curriculum

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which properties of  (a) light and  (b) sound are expected to be studied under the proposed key stage 3 science programme of study.

Bill Rammell: Teachers will use the National Curriculum planning guidance, together with their knowledge of pupils' prior attainment and the programmes of study for key stages 2 and 4, to ensure appropriate progression, while taking full advantage of the flexibility offered by the new key stage 3 programme of study. Light and sound are ways in which energy is transferred from one place to another and as such are placed within "Energy, electricity and forces". To signal that the properties and behaviour of light and sound are still a significant component of the key stage 3 programme of study, they are specifically mentioned in the explanatory notes accompanying the range and content section.

Special Educational Needs: East Yorkshire

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applicants there were per place for each special needs school in East Yorkshire in September of each year since 2000.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Trade Union Funding

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding his Department has allocated to individual trade unions in the last three years.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department has not provided any direct funding to individual trade unions in the last three years. However, in common with other Departments and agencies, the Department does provide agreed time off and facilities for trade union representatives to take part in union duties, activities and training.

Written Questions

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he will answer the question tabled by the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire on 28 February 2006, reference 125275, on the collaborative restart of the Northfields Technology College with Houghton Regis Middle School.

Jim Knight: I refer the hon. Member to the reply issued on 8 March 2007,  Official Report, column 2245W.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what aggregate reduction in outstanding debt to the Child Support Agency he expects to achieve by agreed write off and revaluation of interim maintenance assessments;
	(2)  what process he plans to put in place and what formula he proposes to use to facilitate the revaluation of interim maintenance assessment debt proposed in the White Paper "A new system of child maintenance";
	(3)  whether the revaluation of interim maintenance assessments proposed in the White Paper "A new system of child maintenance" will be subject to agreement by the parent with care.

James Plaskitt: Given the discretionary nature of the negotiated settlements, we cannot predict the extent to which they will be used and are unable to estimate the impact on debt.
	In relation to revaluation of interim maintenance assessments, I refer the hon. Member to the figures given in paragraph 5.42 of the Government's White Paper "A new system of child maintenance".
	Subject to consultation, the proposed revaluation of interim maintenance assessments would be based on analysis of information held by the agency on converting interim maintenance assessments to full maintenance assessments. Conversion of punitive interim maintenance assessments almost invariably results in lower rate full maintenance assessments. The factor that we would use to revalue interim maintenance assessments would reflect the average effect of conversion and would be determined closer to the time of the revaluation.
	In relation to making the revaluation subject to parent with care agreement, we would consider the detail of the process in the light of views received from the White Paper consultation.

Child Support Agency

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken was to progress clerical Child Support Agency cases to a stage where a first payment was made in each month since January 2005; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is not available.

Departmental Contracts

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which public affairs firms have been given contracts by  (a) his Department and  (b) public bodies sponsored by his Department in the last five years; and what the purpose was of each contract.

Jim Murphy: The Department uses private sector contractors to deliver public relations and promotional work in support of communications campaigns on benefits, pensions and other departmental delivery areas. These contractors may include public affairs advice and strategy as part of their offer to private sector and other organisations but the Department does not use these services.
	Information on public bodies for which the Department is responsible is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Websites

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job searches the Jobcentre Plus website handled in each of the last 24 months.

Jim Murphy: The information is in the following table:
	
		
			   Number of job searches 
			  2005  
			 February 14,751,867 
			 March 14,839,770 
			 April 18,613,754 
			 May 14,086,405 
			 June 15,332,539 
			 July 20,600,881 
			 August 16,037,495 
			 September 16,654,929 
			 October 21,749,782 
			 November 17,178,648 
			 December 12,838,421 
			  2006  
			 January 17,320,754 
			 February 19,393,246 
			 March 20,112,175 
			 April 22,873,176 
			 May 18,024,967 
			 June 18,716,479 
			 July 25,800,935 
			 August 20,129,962 
			 September 26,171,245 
			 October 20,033,594 
			 November 19,396,998 
			 December 16,862,115 
			  2007  
			 January 24,281,710

Departmental Websites

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much it has cost to administer the Jobcentre Plus website in each of the last five years.

Jim Murphy: The Jobcentre Plus website was launched in March 2002. The cost of administering the site in each of the last four financial years is in the following table.
	The number of visits made to the website each year has increased from 20.7 million in 2003 to 75.6 million in 2006.
	
		
			   Cost (£) 
			 2002-03 85,000 
			 2003-04 95,000 
			 2004-05 238,700 
			 2005-06 265,200

Departments: Art Works

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on works of art in each year since 1997.

Anne McGuire: The art works in the Department for Work and Pensions are on loan from and therefore owned by the Government Art Collection.

Departments: Complaints

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff worked in dedicated complaints units in his Department and its executive agencies in  (a) 1997-98,  (b) 2001-02 and  (c) 2005-06; and how many there have been in 2006-07 to date.

Anne McGuire: Complaint handling forms an integral part of many of the job roles in all parts of the organisation, particularly those in customer facing or correspondence teams.
	The Child Support Agency is the only part of Department for Work and Pensions with a dedicated complaints unit. Information for the Child Support Agency is not available prior to 2005. As at January 2005 the Child Support Agency had 930 staff either directly in teams handling complaints or teams handling correspondence from hon. Members, stakeholder groups or clients who may have earlier made a complaint. As at December 2006, the number employed on such duties was 892.

Freud Report

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to report the findings and recommendations of the Freud Report.

Jim Murphy: David Freud published his report on 5 March. We will consider the report's recommendations very carefully and respond to them in due course.

Full Employment Agency: ICT

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost of the Information and Communication Technology systems for the new Full Employment Agency in Scotland.

Jim Murphy: The Full Employment Agency is a matter which we are discussing with the Scottish Executive. No estimate has been made by the Department for Work and Pensions of the cost of the Information and Communication Technology systems for the proposed Agency at this stage.

Housing Benefit

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many housing benefit claims were subject to each rate of non-dependant deduction in 2004-05; how many claimants at each rate lived in  (a) council housing,  (b) registered social landlord housing and  (c) the private rented sector; and what percentage of total housing benefit claims each group represents.

James Plaskitt: Information on non-dependants is only available from the annual 1 per cent. sample, the latest being at May 2004. At present it is not possible to use the May 2004 data as an anomaly has been identified which requires further investigation before they can be used with confidence. The most recent information, as at May 2003, is in the following tables.
	
		
			  All housing benefit recipients 
			   Caseload  Percentage( 1) 
			 Total with non-dependants (2)270,000 7.1 
			  Of which:   
			 Attracting deductions for non-dependants 128,000 3.4 
			 Non-dependants:   
			 Total (3)304,000 8.0 
			 Attracting deductions 136,000 3.6 
			 Status of non-dependants:   
			 In remunerative work 59,000 1.5 
			  Of which:   
			 Gross income < £92 6,000 0.2 
			 Gross income £92-£136.99 8,000 0.2 
			 Gross income £137-£176.99 12,000 0.3 
			 Gross income £177-£234.99 10,000 0.3 
			 Gross income £235-£292.99 6,000 0.2 
			 Gross income £293 and over 16,000 0.4 
			 Not receiving income support (IS)/income-based jobseeker's allowance (JSA(IB)) nor working 28,000 0.7 
			 Receiving IS/JSA(IB), not in work 49,000 1.3 
			 On Government training allowance, not in work (4)— (4)— 
			 Unknown (4)— (4)— 
		
	
	
		
			  Local authority tenants 
			   Caseload  Percentage( 1) 
			 Total with non-dependants (2)158,000 4.2 
			  Of which:   
			 Attracting deductions for non-dependants 77,000 2.0 
			 Non-dependants:   
			 Total (3)176,000 4.6 
			 Attracting deductions 81,000 2.1 
			 Status of non-dependants:   
			 In remunerative work 33,000 0.9 
			  Of which:   
			 Gross income <£92 4,000 0.1 
			 Gross income £92-£136.99 4,000 0.1 
			 Gross income £137-£176.99 6,000 0.2 
			 Gross income £177-£234.99 6,000 0.2 
			 Gross income £35-£292.99 4,000 0.1 
			 Gross income £93 and over 8,000 0.2 
			 Not receiving IS/JSA(IB) nor working 18,000 0.5 
			 Receiving IS/JSA(IB), not in work 31,000 0.8 
			 On Government training allowance, not in work (4)— (4)— 
			 Unknown (4)— (4)— 
		
	
	
		
			  Registered social landlord tenants 
			   Caseload  Percentage( 1) 
			 Total with non-dependants (2)80,000 2.1 
			  Of which:   
			 Attracting deductions for non-dependants 36,000 1.0 
			 Non-dependants:   
			 Total (3)92,000 2.4 
			 Attracting deductions 39,000 1.0 
			 Status of non-dependants:   
			 In remunerative work 19,000 0.5 
			  Of which:   
			 Gross income <£92 *1,000 (4)— 
			 Gross income £92-£136.99 3,000 0.1 
			 Gross income £137-£176.99 4,000 0.1 
			 Gross income £177-£234.99 3,000 0.1 
			 Gross income £235-£292.99 *1,000 (4)— 
			 Gross income £293 and over 6,000 0.1 
			 Not receiving IS/JSA(IB) nor working 6,000 0.2 
			 Receiving IS/JSA(IB), not in work 14,000 0.4 
			 On Government training allowance, not in work (4)— (4)— 
			 Unknown (4)— (4)— 
		
	
	
		
			  Private tenants 
			   Caseload  Percentage( 1) 
			 Total with non-dependants (2)32,000 0.9 
			  Of which:   
			 Attracting deductions for non-dependants 15,000 0.4 
			 Non-dependants:   
			 Total (3)36,000 0.9 
			 Attracting deductions 16,000 0.4 
			 Status of non-dependants:   
			 In remunerative work 7,000 0.2 
			  Of which:   
			 Gross income <£92 *1,000 (4)— 
			 Gross income £92-£136.99 *1,000 (4)— 
			 Gross income £137-£176.99 *2,000 (4)— 
			 Gross income £177-£234.99 *1,000 (4)— 
			 Gross income £235-£292.99 *1,000 (4)— 
			 Gross income £293 and over *2,000 0.1 
			 Not receiving IS/JSA(IB) nor working 4,000 0.1 
			 Receiving IS/JSA(IB), not in work 4,000 0.1 
			 On Government training allowance, not in work (4)— (4)— 
			 Unknown (4)— (4)— 
			 (1 )Figures are given as a percentage of the total HB caseload which is 3,796,000 at May 2003. (2) This figure is the number of housing benefit recipients with at least one non-dependant. (3 )This figure is the total number of non-dependants. (4 )Nil or negligible.  Notes: 1. The figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 2. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 3. The caseloads are rounded to the nearest thousand and percentages to one decimal place. 4. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases. 5. Figures under 2,500 marked "*" are subject to a high degree of sampling variation and should be used only as a guide to the situation.  Source: Housing benefit and council tax benefit Management Information System, Annual 1 per cent sample, taken in May 2003.

Housing Benefit

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research he has commissioned into the operation of non-dependant deductions from housing benefit; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The Department last commissioned research into non-dependant deductions in the mid 1990s.
	We have no plans to commission further research into the operation of non-dependant deductions from housing benefit, but we will keep them under review.

Housing Benefit

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of housing benefit that was  (a) overpaid and  (b) underpaid due to the incorrect application of non-dependant deductions in the latest period for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The housing benefit review survey estimates that in 2005-06 the proportion of housing benefit expenditure overpaid due to incorrect or missing non-dependant deductions was 0.3 per cent. The equivalent figure for underpaid housing benefit expenditure was 0.1 per cent.
	The underpayment estimate only covers recipients who were getting less than they were entitled to, and does not include those who were entitled to benefits but did not apply.

Housing Benefit

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many tenants are claiming local housing allowance in each of the 18 pathfinder areas; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The information is in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of tenants claiming local housing allowance in Pathfinder areas, February 2006 
			  Pathfinder  Local housing allowance caseload 
			  Original Pathfinders  
			 Blackpool 8,600 
			 Brighton and Hove 8,900 
			 Conwy 2,400 
			 Coventry 4,900 
			 Edinburgh 6,300 
			 Leeds 6,800 
			 Lewisham 4,600 
			 North East Lincolnshire 4,700 
			 Teignbridge 2,100 
			   
			  Second Wave Group  
			 Argyll and Bute 1,100 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 4,600 
			 Guildford 700 
			 Norwich 1,200 
			 Pembrokeshire 1,800 
			 Salford 2,000 
			 South Norfolk 800 
			 St. Helens 2,000 
			 Wandsworth 3,100 
			 18 Pathfinders total 66,600 
			  Notes: 1. These are the latest available validated data. 2. The reported figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. 3. The reported figures include transitionally protected cases. 4. The second wave group areas are not subject to evaluation but are assessing operational readiness.  Source: DWP Pathfinder administrative data, February 2006.

Housing Benefit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average housing benefit payment for a  (a) single pensioner,  (b) married pensioner,  (c) single person under pensionable age,  (d) married couple under pensionable age and  (e) married couple with children was in (i) 1997 and (ii) at the latest available date.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Average weekly amounts of housing benefit: (£ per week) 
			  As at May each year:  Those aged 60 or over with no partner  Those aged 60 or over with a partner  Those aged under 60 with no partner  Those aged under 60 with a partner  Those with a partner and children 
			 1997 36.94 34.44 47.81 46.21 47.66 
			 2003 49.09 48.58 60.25 63.95 70.07 
			  Notes: 1. The figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample and subject to a degree of sampling variation. 2. Housing benefit cases exclude extended payment cases. 3. Average amounts are shown to the nearest penny. 4. Pensioner figures refer to cases where the claimant and/or partner are aged 60 or over. 5. Figures for those under 60 refer to cases where both claimant and partner are under 60.  Source: Housing benefit and council tax benefit management information system, annual 1 per cent. sample, taken in May 2003.

Income Support: Lone Parents

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents had claimed income support for  (a) up to three months,  (b) between three and six months,  (c) between six and 12 months,  (d) between one and two years,  (e) between two years and three years and  (f) more than three years in each quarter since 1992.

Jim Murphy: Information is not available prior to 1999. The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Income Support lone-parent claimants in Great Britain by duration of claim: each quarter August 1999 to May 2006 
			  Date  Up to 3 months  3-6 months  6-12 months  1-2 years  2-3 years  3 years and over 
			 August 1999 67,080 61,050 103,120 147,540 103,240 458,670 
			 November 1999 60,060 60,960 99,530 148,040 105,850 451,460 
			 February 2000 52,130 57,620 102,570 149,860 107,470 449,430 
			 May 2000 56,700 49,670 100,730 152,420 106,950 448,300 
			 August 2000 59,880 54,520 91,360 153,250 107,450 449,060 
			 November 2000 55,910 54,630 88,610 148,180 108,070 445,690 
			 February 2001 52,220 55,320 94,670 144,300 109,800 447,150 
			 May 2001 52,640 49,330 94,940 141,660 111,290 445,680 
			 August 2001 54,790 50,670 90,210 140,660 111,850 447,190 
			 November 2001 47,920 49,440 84,830 138,160 108,590 444,770 
			 February 2002 46,010 47,360 86,750 138,900 105,680 447,420 
			 May 2002 51,650 43,810 83,620 135,720 103,930 447,210 
			 August 2002 53,630 49,650 79,550 133,340 104,080 449,860 
			 November 2002 48,980 49,050 80,190 125,940 101,910 445,210 
			 February 2003 40,550 48,520 85,090 123,050 102,080 444,470 
			 May 2003 56,920 39,890 85,280 124,760 100,780 445,680 
			 August 2003 49,570 53,790 77,240 125,800 98,330 446,720 
			 November 2003 44,250 44,760 81,190 125,130 93,940 442,460 
			 February 2004 45,840 42,800 84,460 123,210 92,080 441,860 
			 May 2004 44,320 44,270 76,370 126,180 92,450 439,660 
			 August 2004 46,430 42,750 75,670 122,800 92,550 437,890 
			 November 2004 44,260 42,340 72,990 116,080 91,650 429,190 
			 February 2005 45,010 42,510 73,090 116,720 89,900 425,910 
			 May 2005 45,230 42,990 73,580 111,730 90,910 424,870 
			 August 2005 49,280 43,010 74,680 110,190 88,180 424,030 
			 November 2005 47,010 45,240 73,360 109,350 84,090 419,520 
			 February 2006 44,170 45,990 76,550 109,690 84,690 416,000 
			 May 2006 44,210 42,470 79,750 110,220 81,560 416,660 
			 August 2006 51,550 43,000 77,690 114,290 81,020 415,630 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Figures do not include lone -parents whose primary entitlement to benefit is for other reasons, for example disability  Source:  100 per cent DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS)

Jobcentre Plus

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost of each stage of the roll out of the 0800 number for Jobcentre Plus.

Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 13 March 2007:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the estimated cost of each stage of the roll out of the 0800 number for Jobcentre Plus. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The new 0800 telephone number is only part of a wider package of measures being delivered to improve the process for new and repeat claims to income support, jobseekers allowance and incapacity benefit. The 0800 feature will give the majority of our customers the facility to make a benefit claim in a single call which will be free from landlines.
	The new national 0800 number for people making new benefit claims is being rolled out for a one off cost of £1.1m excluding VAT. I cannot provide the cost of running the new service as the telephone charges are the subject of commercial negotiations that we have not yet concluded.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Chorley

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed jobseeker's allowance in Chorley constituency in each of the last 10 years.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the following table:
	
		
			  Jobseeker's allowance claimants in the Chorley parliamentary constituency, each January 1997 to 2007 
			   Number 
			 1997 2,162 
			 1998 1,532 
			 1999 1,448 
			 2000 1,439 
			 2001 1,169 
			 2002 1,122 
			 2003 1,111 
			 2004 900 
			 2005 839 
			 2006 1,009 
			 2007 1,142 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are unrounded. 2. Figures include clerically held cases.  Source: 100 per cent. count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus Computer Systems.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Chorley

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many former farmers claimed jobseeker's allowance in  (a) Chorley constituency and  (b) Lancashire in each of the last 10 years.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available.

Jobseeker's Allowance: East Sussex

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of the resident working age population in  (a) Eastbourne and  (b) East Sussex is in receipt of jobseeker's allowance.

James Plaskitt: As at January 2007, 2.9 per cent. of the working-age population of Eastbourne were in receipt of jobseeker's allowance. At the same date, 2.2 per cent. of the working-age population of East Sussex were in receipt of jobseeker's allowance.

National Insurance: Jobcentres

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people from  (a) Aylesbury constituency,  (b) Aylesbury Vale District and  (c) Buckinghamshire have been interviewed by Jobcentre Plus in connection with an application for a national insurance number in each of the last five years.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is not available.
	The available information is that from 1 January 2006 to 22 February 2007, 5,117 applications from Buckinghamshire for national insurance numbers were received at the Isle of Wight Central Control Unit for processing following an interview.

New Deal for Young People

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions under what circumstances participants of the New Deal for Young People may extend their period on Gateway beyond 10 months.

Jim Murphy: The New Deal for Young People (NDYP) Gateway period is designed to last for a maximum of four months. People aged 18-24 who have been claiming jobseeker's allowance for six months join the Gateway and receive intensive job search support to improve their job prospects. If an NDYP participant has not found work at the end of the Gateway period, they are referred to one of the NDYP Options. In exceptional circumstances, for example, a family bereavement, a short-term illness, or an option becoming unexpectedly unavailable, the Gateway period can be extended.

Occupational Pensions

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) recurring cost of implementing the Occupational Pension Schemes (Minimum Funding Requirement and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2002 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

James Purnell: The Occupational Pension Schemes (Minimum Funding Requirement and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2002 were accompanied by a regulatory impact assessment (RIA), a copy of which is available in the Library. The RIA included an assessment of the impact of the regulations on business, although this will have been affected by the subsequent replacement of the minimum funding requirement by new scheme funding requirements from December 2005. The cost to the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (OPRA) of implementing the regulations, if any, is not separately identifiable.

Older Workers

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of workers aged 60 and over.

Jim Murphy: There are an estimated 2,052,000 people in work aged 60 or over in Great Britain, 16.8 per cent. of the population in the age group.
	 Note:
	These estimates are not based on the same total population estimates as headline ONS estimates for employment in the same period, but this is unlikely to have much effect on the aforementioned figures.
	 Source:
	Labour Force Survey, Q4 2006. The Labour Force Survey is a survey of the population of private households, student halls of residence and NHS accommodation.

Pathways to Work

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of recipients of incapacity benefit moving into work in the Pathways to Work pilot areas.

Jim Murphy: There have been 24,730 individuals recorded as having entered work through Pathways to Work.
	 Notes:
	1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
	2. Data are to the end of March 2006. This is because the Jobcentre Plus Job Entry Targets (JET) measure was terminated in March 2006 and replaced by a new Job Outcome Targets (JOT) measure. We need to move to capturing job outcomes using this measure; however, JOT data are taken from HMRC and therefore there is a longer delay in using this information.
	3. The statistics quoted in this response are taken from the Pathways to Work Evaluation Database.
	4. It would not be appropriate to infer any kind of job entry rate from the data supplied in this response as it would be an underestimate of the true underlying job entry rate due to the fact that more recent cases will have had less time to find a job.
	5. Job entry figures include all recorded job entries plus Return to Work Credit (RTWC) awards for which no job entry is yet recorded. (By definition, a RTWC award must indicate that a job entry has occurred). Figures for job entries include New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) job starts.
	6. This answer is based on the number of individuals who have entered Pathways and then subsequently found a job. The total number of Pathways job entries is higher as an individual can have multiple spells on Pathways.

Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the costs of uprating the basic state pension on the basis of average earnings in each year from 2008-09 to 2015-16; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: Under our reforms, more people will be receiving state pensions based on their national insurance records, and there will be a more generous basic state pension due to the restoration of the earnings link. This provides a solid foundation for private saving. The guarantee credit will continue to provide a safety net and reforms to the savings credit will reduce the spread of means testing and support the savings incentives that are an integral part of the reform package.
	The following table contains the projected additional cost of earnings-uprating the basic state pension from 2008 relative to current system spending.
	
		
			  Table 1: Cost of earnings uprating the basic state pension, net of income related benefits 
			  £ billion, 2006-07 prices 
			   Cost of uprating from 2008 
			 2008-09 0.4 
			 2009-10 0.9 
			 2010-11 1.5 
			 2011-12 2.1 
			 2012-13 2.7 
			 2013-14 3.4 
			 2014-15 4.0 
			 2015-16 4.7 
			  Notes: 1. The analysis is based on the reform proposals presented in the Pensions Bill rather than the White Paper. Some methodological improvements were made to the projections of basic state pension expenditure and revised data has been used between publication of the White Paper and the introduction of the Pensions Bill. 2. Net costs include savings seen from reduced expenditure on other income related benefits (pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit). They do not include any change in income tax revenue or national insurance. Annex A of the Pensions Bill RIA shows the cost of earnings uprating the BSP on a gross basis. 3. Net costs assume the pension credit standard minimum guarantee is uprated by earnings from 2008. 4. Figures do not include the effect of any other reform measures. 5. Costs or savings presented in the table are based on long-term projections of United Kingdom benefit spend, consistent with the pre-Budget report 2006. 6. Figures exclude the effect of personal accounts.

Pensions: Public Sector

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to set up an independent review on public sector pensions.

James Purnell: None.

Pensions: Uprating

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost has been of  (a) stationery,  (b) postage and packaging and (c) staff hours associated with reissuing the pensions uprating notifications.

James Purnell: The information to ascertain the costs associated with this exercise is not yet available.

Poverty: Leicester

Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many  (a) pensioners and  (b) children in Leicester have been lifted out of poverty since 1997.

James Purnell: Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in "Households Below Average Income 1994/95-2004/05", a copy of which has been placed in the Library. The threshold of below 60 per cent. contemporary median income is the most commonly used in reporting trends in low income.
	The data source does not allow us to provide robust numbers for estimates below a regional level. Therefore, estimates for Leicester are not available.

Social Security Benefits Agency: Standards

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken by the Benefits Agency to process claims was in the last period for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The Benefits Agency was an Executive Agency of the Department of Social Security (DSS). Both organisations ceased to exist in June 2001 when the Department for Work and Pensions was formed from DSS, the Employment Service and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment; Jobcentre Plus was formed from the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service. Since 2001, further changes in benefit delivery have been made with the formation of the Pension Service and the disability and carers service.
	The information requested is not available.

Social Security Benefits: Glenrothes

John MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Glenrothes were in receipt of  (a) attendance allowance and  (b) income support in 1997; and how many were in receipt of income support in each of the last five years.

James Plaskitt: Information for the Glenrothes parliamentary constituency is not available prior to May 2005. The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Income support claimants in the Glenrothes parliamentary constituency. 
			  At August each year:  Number 
			 2005 4,440 
			 2006 4,490 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest10. 2. Figures prior to 2005 are not available due to constituency changes in Scotland.  Source:  DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS)

State Retirement Pensions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the UK were entitled to a state pension in  (a) 1992,  (b) 1997 and  (c) 2006.

James Purnell: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the following table.
	
		
			  State pension recipients in GB 
			   Number 
			 September 1992 9,479,400 
			 September 1997 9,914,700 
			 September 2005 10,568,700 
			 March 2006 10,583,400 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 2. Figures for September 2006 are not yet available so figures for March 2006 have been provided.  Sources: 1. DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent. extract of the PSCS. Sample data is subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall case load from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. 2. The figure for 1992 is taken from the Social Security Statistics 1993 publication and is from a 10 per cent. sample and has not been adjusted.

Unemployment: Foreign Workers

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect of A2 and A8 migration on  (a) unemployment and  (b) measures to tackle unemployment in the UK.

Jim Murphy: In February 2006, DWP published a working paper on the impact of free movement of workers from Central and Eastern Europe on the UK labour market; copies have been placed in the Library. The paper found that there has been no discernible statistical effect of A8 migration on claimant unemployment.
	A8 migrants can only usually access benefits once they have been working and registered with the Worker Registration Scheme for at least 12 months. A8 migrants not in receipt of benefit are unable to access Jobcentre Plus schemes. Similarly, A2 migrants cannot generally access the benefit system without having completed 12 months legal work.
	We are continuing to monitor the impact of accession country migration on the UK labour market.

Unemployment: Foreign Workers

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if  (a) he and  (b) Jobcentre Plus will take steps to provide further benefit support and advice for A2 and A8 nationals who become unemployed.

Jim Murphy: Income related benefits are only paid to people who have a right to reside and are habitually resident in the UK. Most A8 and A2 nationals can only claim in work benefits while they are working as either a registered worker in the case of an A8 national, or an authorised worker in the case of an A2 national.
	Once they have completed 12 months continuous employment as a registered or authorised worker A8 and A2 nationals who remain in the labour market have the same rights to access Jobcentre Plus services including benefit support and advice, as other EEA and UK nationals. We have no plans to extend this support.

Winter Fuel Payments

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the level of winter fuel payments in relation to the cost of energy; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: The winter fuel payment is a significant contribution to winter fuel bills which account for around 60 per cent. of the year's total fuel bill. It has risen from £20 to £200 from winter 2000-01 and to £300 for people aged 80 or over from winter 2003-04. These increases have been at a significantly higher rate than inflation. Fuel prices do fluctuate and although fuel prices have risen since 2003, this follows a period of no change between 1997 to 2003. Companies are now starting to announce price reductions in their retail tariffs to domestic customers following recent falls in wholesale gas prices.

Winter Fuel Payments: North East Region

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in  (a) Houghton and Washington East constituency and  (b) Sunderland City Council area received winter fuel payments in each of the last five years.

James Purnell: The information is in the following table. Information on households receiving a winter fuel payment is available only by constituency and local authority from winter 2002-03. Figures for winter 2006-07 are not yet available but we expect the numbers to be similar to those for winter 2005-06.
	
		
			   Household payments made 
			   Houghton and Washington, East constituency  Sunderland local authority 
			 2002-03 12,090 40,470 
			 2003-04 12,230 40,660 
			 2004-05 12,450 41,220 
			 2005-06 12,570 41,580 
			  Notes: 1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Parliamentary constituencies and local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory. 3. Any residence found to have four or more occupants aged 60 and over is not included in the household figures as it is assumed to be a care home.  Source: Information directorate 100 per cent. data.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Deborah Mattinson

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much Deborah Mattinson was paid for her presentation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer as part of the policy review seminar on 22 January 2007.

Patrick McFadden: A range of organisations and individuals have made submissions and presentations to the policy review process. Deborah Mattinson was not paid for her presentation.

TREASURY

Child Care Tax Credits: Eltham

Clive Efford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Eltham have received child care credits since their introduction.

Dawn Primarolo: The average number of families in each constituency benefiting from the child care element of Working Tax Credit in 2004-05 are available in the HMRC statistical publication "Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics. Finalised Awards 2004-05. Geographical analyses", which is available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm
	Estimates for 2005-06 will be published in May 2007.
	No estimates are available for 2003-04, as the only data available are for a sample of cases. Any estimates would be unreliable at constituency level.

Childbirth

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many births there were in the UK in each year since 1995.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 13 March 2007:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question about how many births there were in the UK in each year since 1995. (126143)
	The latest year for which figures are available is 2005, The table below shows the number of live births in the UK each year between 1995 and 2005.
	
		
			  Live births, United Kingdom, 1995 to 2005 
			   Number of live births 
			 1995 731,882 
			 1996 733,163 
			 1997 726,622 
			 1998 716,888 
			 1999 699,976 
			 2000 679,029 
			 2001 669,123 
			 2002 668,777 
			 2003 695,549 
			 2004 715,996 
			 2005 722,549 
		
	
	In compiling total live births for the UK, figures for live births in England and Wales relate to the number occurring in each calendar year, while for Scotland and Northern Ireland figures relate to the number of live births registered in each calendar year.

Deborah Mattinson

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his role was in selecting Deborah Mattinson to make a presentation as part of the policy review seminar on 22 January.

John Healey: A range of organisations and individuals have made submissions and presentations to the policy review process.

Departments: Official Engagements

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list his official engagements from 1 January to 28 February 2007.

John Healey: The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Housing Occupancy

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the  (a) mean and  (b) median number of (i) children and (ii) adults was in households where the household reference person was aged (A) 18 to 24, (B) 25 to 29, (C) 30 to 39, (D) 40 to 49, (E) 50 to 59, (F) 60 to 69 and (G) 70 and over in (1) 1985, (2) 1995 and (3) 2005;
	(2)  what the  (a) mean and  (b) median number of (i) children and (ii) adults was in households where the household reference person was aged (A) 18 to 24, (B) 25 to 29, (C) 30 to 39, (D) 40 to 49, (E) 50 to 59, (F) 60 to 69 and (G) 70 and over and where the household reference person reported their nationality as being from one of the 12 countries which acceded to the EU since 2004.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 13 March 2007:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking what the (a) mean and (b) median number of (i) children and (ii) adults in households where the household reference person (HRP) was aged (A) 18 to 24, (B) 25 to 29, (C) 30 to 39, (D) 40 to 49, (E) 50 to 59, (F) 60 to 69 and (G) 70 and over in (1) 1985, (2) 1995 and (3) 2005, and also your question asking for similar information for where the household reference person reported their nationality as being one of the 12 countries which acceded to the EU since 2004. (126071 and 126072)
	The information requested on numbers of children and adults, separately, in each household, by the age of the household reference person is readily available for the year 2005, but not for 1995 and 1985. Figures for those earlier years could only be provided at disproportionate cost. To provide reliable information on accession countries, figures have been combined across the four quarters in which household information was collected in the Labour Force Survey in the period Autumn 2004 to Spring 2006. The figures are provided in the two tables below.
	
		
			  Mean household size by age group of household reference person (HRP) split by adults and dependent children( 1) , United Kingdom, 2005 and accession countries( 2) 
			   All households  HRP has accession( 2)  nationality 
			  Age group of HRP  All  Adults  Children( 1)  All  Adults  Children( 1) 
			 18 to 24 2.4 2.0 0.5 2.9 2.8 0.1 
			 25 to 29 2.4 1.8 0.6 3.1 2.8 0.4 
			 30 to 39 2.9 1.8 1.1 3.3 2.5 0.8 
			 40 to 49 3.0 2.0 1.0 — — — 
			 50 to 59 2.4 2.1 0.3 — — — 
			 60 to 69 1.9 1.8 0.0 — — — 
			 70 and over 1.5 1.5 0.0 — — — 
			
			 40 to 59 2.7 2.1 0.7 3.2 2.6 0.6 
			
			 All ages 18 and over 2.4 1.8 0.5 3.0 2.6 0.4 
			 '—' Sample number below 100 (1) A dependent child is aged under 16, or 16 to 18 and in full-time education. (2) Accession countries since 2004 are Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia (1 May 2004) and Bulgaria and Romania (1 January 2007).  Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding  Source: All households LFS 2005 Household data set Spring and Autumn quarters. Accession countries, LFS Autumn 2004, Spring and Autumn 2005 and Spring 2006 Household data sets. All figures are population weighted. 
		
	
	
		
			  Median numbers of people in households by age group of household reference person (HRP) adults and dependent children( 1) , United Kingdom, 2005 and accession countries( 2) 
			   All households  HRP has accession( 2)  nationality 
			  Age group of HRP  All  Adults  Children( 1)  All  Adults  Children( 1) 
			 18 to 24 2 2 0 3 3 0 
			 25 to 29 2 2 0 3 2 0 
			 30 to 39 3 2 1 3 2 0 
			 40 to 49 3 2 1 — — — 
			 50 to 59 2 2 0 — — — 
			 60 to 69 2 2 0 — — — 
			 70 and over 1 1 0 — — — 
			
			 40 to 59 3 2 0 3 2 0 
			
			 All ages 18 and over 2 2 0 3 2 0 
			 '—' Sample number below 100 (1) A dependent child is aged under 16, or 16 to 18 and in full-time education. (2) Accession countries since 2004 are Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia (1 May 2004) and Bulgaria and Romania (1 January 2007).  Source: All households LFS 2005 Household data set Spring and Autumn quarters. Accession countries, LFS Autumn 2004, Spring and Autumn 2005 and Spring 2006 Household data sets. All figures are population weighted.

Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid in  (a) income tax and  (b) national insurance contributions by (i) men and (ii) women aged (A) under 25, (B) 25 to 29, (C) 30 to 34, (D) 35 to 39, (E) 40 to 44, (F) 45 to 49, (G) 50 to 54, (H) 55 to 59, (I) 60 to 64, (J) 65 to 69, (K) 70 to 74, (L) 75 to 79 and (M) over 79 in the latest year for which information is available.

Dawn Primarolo: The available estimates of the distribution of income tax liabilities can be found in table 3.2 "Distribution of median and mean income tax by age range and gender, 2004-05" on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/menu-by-year.htm#32
	Estimates of the distribution of national insurance contributions by age range and gender for 2004-05 are provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Male  Female 
			  Age range  Numbers paying NICs (000)  Mean NICs (£)  Numbers paying NICs (000)  Mean NICs (£) 
			 Under 20 372 552 258 419 
			 20 to 24 1,180 930 970 760 
			 25 to 29 1,500 1,380 1,240 1,240 
			 30 to 34 1,820 1,600 1,390 1,180 
			 35 to 39 2,050 1,750 1,500 1,100 
			 40 to 44 2,050 1,670 1,590 1,050 
			 45 to 49 1,810 1,690 1,450 1,080 
			 50 to 54 1,610 1,610 1,310 1,040 
			 55-59(1) 1,500 1,480 1,530 737 
			 60 to 64(2) 985 1,140 — — 
			 65+ — — — — 
			 All ranges 14,870 1,500 11 ,250 1,010 
			 (1) Includes females that turned 60 at the end of the financial year but paid NICs as 59-year-olds for some proportion of the year. (2) Includes males that turned 65 at the end of the financial year but paid NICs as 64-year-olds for some proportion of the year.  Notes: 1. This table is based on age at the end of the financial year. Individuals cease paying NICs when they reach state retirement age; this is 60 for females and 65 for males. 2. Figures are rounded so totals will not necessarily sum to their components. 3. Figures are UK primary accruals for 2004-05 net of rebates. They include Class 1 net, Class 2, Class 3 and Class 4 NICs. 4. The figures are estimated using: Annual survey of hours and earnings for 2004-05 for the Class 1 age distribution. Survey of personal incomes for 2003-04, uprated with earnings for 2004-05, for the self-employed age distribution. DWP contributions and qualifying years tables for 2002-03 for the Class 3 age distribution.

Minimum Wage: Carers

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions took place between his Department and the Department for Work and Pensions on the carer's allowance earnings threshold prior to the increase in the minimum wage to £5.35 in October 2006.

Dawn Primarolo: HMT and DWP officials discuss a number of issues relating to the benefit system on a regular basis.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the titles were of each of the policy papers prepared by the Council of Economic Advisers in the last six months.

John Healey: As set out in the Treasury press notice of 28 June 2006, the Council of Economic Advisers is made up of individual policy experts who will bring their specialist advice to work alongside individual Treasury teams on the Government's key policy priorities.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his long-term plans are for the Council of Economic Advisers; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The terms of reference for the Council of Economic Advisers were set out in the Treasury Press Notice of 4 August 1997.
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/newsroom_and_speeches/press/1997/press_99_97.cfm

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date his Council of Economic Advisers last met in full; and how many times it met in full in the last 12 months.

John Healey: Members of the Council of Economic advisers meet regularly during the course of their work.

National Insurance Contributions

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the additional income to the National Insurance Fund which would be raised by removing the upper earnings limit and levying a standard percentage on all incomes above that limit.

Dawn Primarolo: Removing the upper earnings limit and levying the main percentage rate on all incomes above that limit would result in an additional estimated income to the National Insurance Fund of £6.6 billion in 2006-07.
	This estimate is consistent with PBR 2006 assumptions.

National Insurance Contributions: Pensions

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were sent letters from HM Revenue and Customs in  (a) 2004,  (b) 2005 and  (c) 2006 inviting them to top up their national insurance (NI) contributions to ensure that they are entitled to the basic state pension; what estimate he has made of the number of these letters which were incorrectly sent to people who had paid their full NI contributions; how many payments HM Revenue and Customs has received from people who had received such incorrect notices; how much was received; how many people have been notified that the letters were incorrect; how many refunds have been made; what circumstances led to the error; and what steps his Department is taking to rectify the error.

Dawn Primarolo: The following numbers of letters were sent to people to advise them that they had a gap in their national insurance contributions record:
	 (a) 3.7 million letters were issued in 2004 for the 2002-03 tax year,
	 (b) 3.2 million letters were issued in 2005 for the 2003-04 tax year
	 (c) 4.7 million letters were issued in 2006 for the 2004-05 tax year.
	It is not possible to provide the information on the following as it is not held:
	how many letters were incorrectly sent,
	how many payments and what total amount of money HMRC has received from people who had received such notices,
	how many people were notified the letters were incorrect,
	how many refunds made.
	The reasons for the delay in processing 2004-05 Employers' Annual Returns are well documented and I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 January 2007,  Official Report, column 346W. There has been no repeat of the processing delays experienced for 2005-06 tax year.

PAYE

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people  (a) qualified for and  (b) received the £250 credit for filing PAYE returns electronically in each year since its introduction.

Dawn Primarolo: The online filing incentive is paid to small employers who voluntarily submit their Employer Annual Return online.
	Payments of incentives were made to 900,000 small employers in 2005-06 (in respect of Annual Returns for 2004-05). This represents 51 per cent. of the small employer population registered for PAYE in the qualifying period.
	Payments of incentives were made to 1.18 million small employers in 2006-07 (in respect of Annual Returns for 2005-06). This represents 67 per cent. of the small employer population registered for PAYE in the qualifying period.

Personal Income

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update the information provided in  (a) Table 50 and  (b) Table 51 of Report No. 1 (the Initial Report on the Standing Reference) of the Royal Commission on the Distribution of Income and Wealth for the years 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC publish a number of National Statistics on the distribution of wealth. These are available from the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal_wealth/menu.htm
	Updating the tables from the 1975 Royal Commission on the Distribution of Income and Wealth would incur a disproportionate cost.

Policy: Reviews

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which Ministers attended his round table policy review seminar on 22 January 2007.

John Healey: The policy review seminars have been open to all non-Cabinet Ministers able to attend.

Revenue and Customs

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid to  (a) male and  (b) female recipients by HM Revenue and Customs aged (i) 18 to 25, (ii) 26 to 30, (iii) 31 to 40, (iv) 41 to 50, (v) 51 to 60, (vi) 61 to 70, (vii) 71 to 80 and (viii) over 80 in the last period for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Revenue and Customs: Disclosure of Information

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions HM Revenue and Customs provided access to personal tax information to another Government Department or agency in 2005-06; to which Departments or agencies access was provided; and what the reasons were for providing the access.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs discloses information gathered in carrying out its functions only where there is a statutory power to disclose. There is a wide range of statutory powers to disclose to other Government Departments and agencies. Disclosures are made for the purposes set out in those statutory powers. The information requested is not available.

Stamp Duties: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average stamp duty paid on a house was in Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Edward Balls: Estimates of amounts of stamp duty payable by each local authority, for 2005-06, were deposited in the House of Commons Library last June.
	A table showing total amounts of stamp duty land tax arising in 2005-06 from residential transactions, and numbers of transactions, for counties, will be published in the summer. Reliable information is not available for earlier years.

Tax Evasion

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of income tax revenue lost through tax evasion in the last year for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: There are currently no reliable estimates of the income tax revenue lost through tax evasion.

Taxation: Electoral Register

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  under what circumstances his Department regards registration as a voter at a UK address as evidence of  (a) residency and  (b) domicile in the UK for tax purposes; and what account is taken of electoral registration in determining an individual's liability for tax in the UK;
	(2)  how many individuals resident in the UK claim non-domiciliary status for UK tax purposes; and what account is taken of the relationship between residency and domiciliary status for UK tax purposes;
	(3)  what checks are carried out to verify that  (a) UK and  (b) Commonwealth citizens who claim non-domiciliary status for UK tax purposes meet the criteria for this status.

Dawn Primarolo: Registration as a voter at a UK address is part of the evidence considered in relation to whether an individual is resident or domiciled in the UK for tax purposes and any consequent liability to tax in the UK.
	Approximately 110,000 individuals claimed non-domicile tax status through self assessment tax returns in the year 2004-05. Liability to UK tax depends on the residence, ordinary residence and domicile status of individuals.
	HM Revenue and Customs may ask any individual who claims non-domicile for further information, either as part of self-assessment return procedures or in response to a form DOM1.

Unemployment: Ethnic Groups

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what change there was in unemployment rates for  (a) white,  (b) mixed Indian,  (c) Pakistani,  (d) Bangladeshi,  (e) other Asian,  (f) Black Caribbean,  (g) Black African and  (h) other ethnic groups in each year for which figures are available.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 13 March 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the unemployment rates for  (a) white,  (b) mixed Indian,  (c) Pakistani,  (d) Bangladeshi  (e) other Asian,  (f) Black Caribbean,  (g) Black African and  (h) other ethnic groups for which figures are available. (126133)
	The table overleaf gives the unemployment rates by ethnicity. These rates are not seasonally adjusted. They are published each quarter in Table 10 of the Labour Market Statistics Historical Quarterly Supplement available on the ONS website:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/LFSHQS/Tablel0.xls
	Comparable estimates are not available for 1998 and 2000, and Q1 (January-March) and Q3 (July-September) for the years 1997-2004.
	Estimates are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. This is particularly true for the unemployment rates of some ethnic groups.
	
		
			  Unemployment rates( 1)  by ethnicity( 2, 3, ) from 1997 to 2006, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted 
			  Percentage 
			All origins  White  Indian( 4)  Pakistani  Bangladeshi  Other Asian 
			 1997 Q1 7 — — — — — 
			  Q2 7 7 8 23 19 (5)— 
			  Q3 7 — — — — — 
			  Q4 6 6 9 17 24 14 
			 
			 1999 Q1 6 — — — — — 
			  Q2 6 6 9 15 21 13 
			  Q3 6 — — — — — 
			  Q4 6 5 7 15 22 12 
			 
			 2001 Q1 5 — — — — — 
			  Q2 5 4 8 18 20 11 
			  Q3 5 — — — — — 
			  Q4 5 5 8 14 26 8 
			 
			 2002 Q1 5 — — — — — 
			  Q2 5 5 6 11 21 9 
			  Q3 6 — — — — — 
			  Q4 5 5 7 15 (5)— 11 
			 
			 2003 Q1 5 — — — — — 
			  Q2 5 4 7 14 23 10 
			  Q3 5 — — — — — 
			  Q4 5 4 8 13 18 11 
			 
			 2004 Q1 5 — — — — — 
			  Q2 5 4 6 14 15 10 
			  Q3 5 — — — — — 
			  Q4 5 4 6 12 17 8 
			 
			 2005 Q1 5 4 5 13 17 7 
			  Q2 5 4 6 12 17 7 
			  Q3 5 4 9 14 16 9 
			  Q4 5 5 6 14 19 10 
			 
			 2006 Q1 5 5 7 14 18 12 
			  Q2 5 5 7 14 20 10 
			  Q3 6 5 9 15 14 7 
			  Q4 5 5 7 15 16 9 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage 
			Black Caribbean  Black African  Other Black  Chinese  Mixed  Other 
			 1997 Q1 — — — — — — 
			  Q2 16 23 (5)— (5)— 12 (5)— 
			  Q3 — — — — — — 
			  Q4 15 24 (5)— (5)— 14 (5)— 
			 
			 1999 Q1 — — — — — — 
			  Q2 13 16 (5)— (5)— 13 13 
			  Q3 — — — — — — 
			  Q4 14 17 (5)— (5)— 12 12 
			 
			 2001 Q1 — — — — — — 
			  Q2 13 14 (5)— (5)— 9 10 
			  Q3 — — — — — — 
			  Q4 12 14 (5)— (5)— 15 10 
			 
			 2002 Q1 — — — — — — 
			  Q2 11 15 (5)— (5)— 14 11 
			  Q3 — — — — — — 
			  Q4 14 13 (5)— (5)— 19 12 
			 
			 2003 Q1 — — — — — — 
			  Q2 13 14 (5)— (5)— 11 14 
			  Q3 — — — — — — 
			  Q4 12 12 (5)— (5)— 13 13 
			 
			 2004 Q1 — — — — — — 
			  Q2 11 13 (5)— (5)— 13 10 
			  Q3 — — — — — — 
			  Q4 10 13 (5)— 9 11 11 
			 
			 2005 Q1 12 13 (5)— 9 10 10 
			  Q2 11 14 (5)— 8 12 9 
			  Q3 12 13 (5)— (5)— 12 10 
			  Q4 12 13 (5)— 9 13 11 
			 
			 2006 Q1 12 12 (5)— (5)— 14 14 
			  Q2 12 13 (5)— (5)— 12 13 
			  Q3 15 15 (5)— (5)— 13 12 
			  Q4 14 14 (5)— 11 14 11 
			 (1 )Total unemployed as a percentage of all economically active persons. (2) This table uses the National Statistics standard classification of ethnic groups. (3) This table does not include people who did not state their ethnic group. (4) Includes mixed Indian. (5) Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates.  Note: Comparable estimates are not currently available for 1998 and 2000 and for quarters one and quarter three until 2005.  Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS).

VAT

Mark Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1141W, on VAT, if he will place in the Library a copy of  (a) the letter of formal notice sent from the European Commission to the UK Government on 18 October 2006 and  (b) the UK Government's response of 14 December 2006, referring to a complaint about a change in the law on 3 December 2004 on VAT on the supply of services to non-EU customers.

Dawn Primarolo: This matter is currently under consideration, and is the subject of discussions with the European Commission.
	On completion of those considerations and discussions I will write to the hon. Member.

VAT: Fraud

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the loss of revenue to the Treasury from VAT carousel fraud in each of the last 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the potential loss in 2006-07.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC published annual estimates of the level of MTIC fraud alongside PBR 2006 in 'Measuring Indirect Tax Losses—2006', which is available from the House of Commons Library or from the HMRC website.
	HMRC does not produce monthly estimates of revenue losses from carousel fraud and, as yet, no estimate has yet been produced for 2006-07, although operational indicators suggest that MTIC fraud activity has fallen sharply during the year.

Welfare Tax Credits: ICT

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the flexibility of the tax credit IT system;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the risks associated with the tax credit IT system.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 12 March 2007
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 October 2006,  Official Report, column 2028W, and to the Minutes of Evidence given to the Treasury Committee on 19 April 2006 ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 23 May 2006.

Welfare Tax Credits: Telephones

Graham Stuart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures are in place to retrieve and transcribe telephone records in the event of a dispute between the tax credit office and its clients regarding information imparted during a call; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Calls to the tax credits helpline are digitally recorded and in the event of a dispute that cannot otherwise be settled, HMRC staff will retrieve the recording to establish the facts.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the potential effect of a ban on all alcohol advertising on the incidence of alcohol-related crimes.

Vernon Coaker: While advertising has been shown generally to influence individuals' awareness and attitudes, there is no clear evidence that advertising contributes to criminal behaviour such as violence. However, in response to the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy (2004), both the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) strengthened the non-broadcast and broadcast alcohol advertising code rules. The regulatory bodies; the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Ofcom, are undertaking work, designed to assess the impact of these regulatory changes. CAP and BCAP are committed to robust evidence-based rules. If there were new evidence showing major harms, then the codes, or their interpretation, may be reviewed.

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect of the availability of alcohol for sale in supermarkets on levels of criminal and antisocial behaviour in the vicinity of supermarkets.

Vernon Coaker: The British Crime Survey provides, for England and Wales, general data on; adult victims' perceptions on whether violent offenders were under the influence of alcohol; people's perceptions of whether drunk and rowdy behaviour is a problem in their area; and a range of other data about alcohol related offences. No specific data is collected centrally on crime and disorder in the vicinity of supermarkets.
	The Government are determined to see the highest standards of alcohol retailing across the industry including off licences and supermarkets and welcomes the progress that has been made.
	We continue to work with the major supermarkets and other retailers to encourage socially responsible retail of alcohol and to tackle some of the associated issues, for example underage sales. Following the success of the Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaigns we will conduct, in May, a national Tackling Underage Sales of Alcohol Campaign.
	The Licensing Act 2003 gives local authorities and the police a powerful framework to regulate the sale of alcohol and tackle irresponsible licensed premises. Where crime and disorder arises in the vicinity of licensed premises, the licence can be reviewed and, if appropriate, conditions can be added or the licence can be revoked.

Alcoholic Drinks: Durham

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many alcohol-related offences were committed in  (a) County Durham and  (b) Easington constituency in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: From the information collected centrally on recorded crime, it is not possible to identify those offences which are alcohol-related. Such offences are not specifically defined by statute and details of the individual circumstances of offences do not feature in the recorded crime statistics.

Asylum

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers from  (a) Somalia,  (b) Iraq and  (c) Afghanistan had their application refused in 2006.

John Reid: Information on asylum applications, initial decisions and appeals by nationality are published quarterly and annually. These publications, entitled 'Asylum Statistics 1/2/3/4 Quarter 2006, are too large to be included within the reply. Copies are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Crimes of Violence: Hospitals

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many  (a) violent assaults and  (b) arrests took place in hospitals in Lancashire in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many convictions for offences committed in hospitals in Lancashire were obtained in each of the last 10 years.

Tony McNulty: Information from the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service for physical assaults in Acute hospitals in the County of Lancashire is available for 2004-05 and 2005-06: with 297 physical assaults in 2004-05 and 343 physical assaults in 2005-06.
	It is not possible to identify separately convictions for offences committed in hospitals from other information held centrally.

Criminal Casework Team

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes have been made to the Criminal Casework Team in each of the last five years.

John Reid: I have set out the average number of personnel working within the Criminal Casework Team in each of the last five years, 26 October 2006,  Official Report, column 2126W. The Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on 9 October 2006, setting out that this figure had increased to 530 staff. In her letter, the Director General also outlined that a new system of case ownership has been introduced to ensure that all deportation cases are managed and tracked by individual caseworkers as they pass through the system. A copy of this letter is available in the Library of the House.

Criminal Casework Team

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the budget of the criminal casework team was in each of the last five years; and how it was allocated in each year.

John Reid: Figures prior to 2004-05 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	From 2004-05, the budget for the criminal casework team (rounded to the nearest £100,000) is in the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			 2004-05 2,200,000 
			 2005-06 2,500,000 
			 2006-07 10,600,000 
		
	
	The majority of this budget is allocated for staffing costs. The Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Lin Homer, wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on the 9 October 2006 explaining that during 2006 there had been a five-fold increase in staffing levels within the criminal casework team. A copy of this letter is available in the House Library.

Criminal Records Bureau: Standards

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average waiting time is for a Criminal Records Bureau check.

Joan Ryan: Data concerning the average waiting time taken to complete a disclosure are not a performance target and are not collated by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). The CRB operates to a published service standard (PSS) to issue 93 per cent. of standard disclosures within 10 days and 90 per cent. of enhanced disclosures within 28 days. For January 2007, the CRB issued 99.2 per cent. of standard disclosures and 90.8 per cent. of enhanced disclosures within PSS.

Departments: Manpower

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of Authentication by Interview officers to be employed by his Department in  (a) 2009 and  (b) 2010.

Joan Ryan: The interview officer role will gradually transition to that of interview and enrolment officer from 2009, and staff will be trained accordingly. This is to meet the need for the business additionally to record biometrics from all applicants in readiness for the issuing of second biometric passports and identity cards.
	It is expected that there will be a need for more enrolment officers than the roughly 600 interview officers to be employed this year during the implementation of the authentication by interview process. Any additional staff are likely to be required from mid 2009, but it is premature to identify how many this will be as it depends on the date when IPS is ready to start initial biometric enrolment and the rate of increase in volume of customers which will depend on the progressive implementation plan.

Departments: Manpower

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Authentication by Interview officers have been recruited; and which company his Department has commissioned to recruit them.

Joan Ryan: IPS has recruited 55 interview office staff who have started work and offered a job to a further 539 people. Some are to be full time and others are part time staff. Recruitment was carried out by IPS supported by our recruitment partner Barkers, who assisted with application response handling.

Departments: Manpower

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the most recent job advertisement for the position of Authentication by Interview officer.

Joan Ryan: I confirm that the most recent interview officer job advertisements for the recruitment campaign held in September 2006 will be placed in the Library.

Departments: Travel

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many miles staff in his private office travelled on official business in 2005-06.

John Reid: Departmental records on travel are not kept by length of journey and therefore this question cannot be answered within the disproportionate cost threshold.
	All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers and the Civil Service Management Code.

Driving Offences

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted for failing to comply with  (a) a stop sign and  (b) traffic light signals in each of the last 10 years.

Vernon Coaker: The information collected centrally does not identify separately offences of neglect of stop signs and traffic light signals.
	Available information taken from the Court Proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, from 1995 to 2004 (latest available) is provided in the table.
	2005 data will be available later this year.
	
		
			  Number of convictions at all courts for the offence of failing to comply with traffic light signals/signs( 1) , England and Wales, 1995 to 2004 
			  Number of offences 
			   Total 
			 1995 24,480 
			 1996 25,307 
			 1997 23,563 
			 1998 20,966 
			 1999 18,971 
			 2000 21,893 
			 2001 20,028 
			 2002 17,872 
			 2003 17,094 
			 2004 13,775 
			 (1) Offences under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Motor Vehicles (Speed Limits on Motorways) Regulations 1973; the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1994.  Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system currently being implemented by the Department for Constitutional Affairs reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used.

Driving Under Influence: Durham

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drink driving offences were committed in  (a) County Durham and  (b) Easington constituency in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: Available information on the number of convictions at all courts and those dealt with by written warning, taken from the annual Home Office publication "Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales Supplementary tables", for Durham police force area (which is coterminous with the County of Durham), from 2000 to 2004 (latest available) are given in the table.
	Data is not available at constituency level.
	2005 data will be available later this year.
	
		
			  Number of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs( 1)  offences found guilty at all courts or dealt with by written warning within Durham police force area, 2000 to 2004 
			  Number of offences 
			   2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 Total findings of guilt at all courts 1,124 1,097 1,136 1,170 1,277 
			 Written warnings 2 0 0 0 11 
			 Total 1,126 1,097 1,136 1,170 1,288 
			 (1) Offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988.  Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system currently being implemented by the Department for Constitutional Affairs reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Elderly: Abuse

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of cases of abuse or mistreatment of elderly people;
	(2)  what steps the Government is taking to ensure that older people are aware of their rights in cases of abuse and mistreatment.

Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government deplore abuse of all older people. We have set out standards of care and treatment for older people in the national service framework and in national minimum standards for care homes and domiciliary care agencies. We have also created independent regulators and given them the powers they need to take action against poorly providing performers. Staff who provide personal care to older people in their own homes or in care homes are subject to statutory checks, including checks of their criminal record and the protection of vulnerable adults scheme.
	The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 introduces a new vetting and barring scheme which will be passed in from autumn 2008. The new scheme will be proactive, with vetting taking place on an individual's first application to work with children or vulnerable adults. This will make it far more difficult for abusers to gain access to the most vulnerable groups in our society.
	Statutory guidance has been issued to local authorities on putting in place multi-agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable people from abuse. "No Secrets" makes it clear that local strategies for the prevention of abuse of vulnerable adults should include plans to disseminate information to users, carers, relevant staff groups and agencies to ensure they are aware of local arrangements including how to report abuse.
	The Department has commissioned research, jointly with Comic Relief, on the prevalence and nature of abuse of older people who live in their own homes. It will be published later this year.

Entry Clearances: Marriage

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many marriage visas were granted in each year since 1985.

Kim Howells: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Member to the following table. Please note that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office electronic resources only go as far back as 1998 for marriage/fiancé(e) visas.
	
		
			  Applications for UK marriage/fiancé (e) visas issued from 1998 to 2006 
			   Number 
			 1998 3,198 
			 1999 3,008 
			 2000 3,915 
			 2001 5,241 
			 2002 5,429 
			 2003 5,634 
			 2004 5,546 
			 2005 6,683 
			 2006 7,480 
			  Note: UKvisas makes every effort to ensure that statistics produced from our 'Central Reference System' are accurate. However, the complexity of our global business, including technical failures or occasional inconsistencies in data entry across any of over 150 offices, means we cannot 100 per cent. guarantee accuracy.  Sources: 1998-2003: Central Reference System (CRS) 7 March 2007 2004-2006: Statistics Search Screen on CRS 7 March 2007

Entry Clearances: Marriage

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people received marriage visas in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2000,  (c) 1995,  (d) 1990 and  (e) 1985, broken down by nationality.

Kim Howells: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Member to the following table. Please note that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office electronic resources go as far back as 1998 only for marriage/fiancé(e) visas. These statistics therefore cover the years 2005 and 2000 only.
	
		
			  Nationality  2005  2000 
			 Afghanistan 7 2 
			 Albania 654 32 
			 Algeria 20 12 
			 Angola 2 2 
			 Antigua and Barbuda 4 2 
			 Argentina 41 3 
			 Armenia 5 0 
			 Australia 185 178 
			 Azerbaijan 13 0 
			 Bahamas 0 2 
			 Bahrain 2 1 
			 Bangladesh 28 9 
			 Barbados 10 6 
			 Belarus 47 20 
			 Benin 0 0 
			 Bermuda 0 1 
			 Bolivia 7 0 
			 Bosnia and Herzegovina 9 10 
			 Botswana 1 2 
			 Brazil 208 41 
			 British National Overseas 17 8 
			 British Overseas Citizen 0 1 
			 Bulgaria 53 23 
			 Burma (Myanmar) 2 0 
			 Burundi 0 0 
			 Cambodia 2 0 
			 Cameroon 11 0 
			 Canada 120 64 
			 Cape Verde 0 1 
			 Chile 14 0 
			 China 165 104 
			 Colombia 61 12 
			 Congo 2 2 
			 Costa Rica 2 0 
			 Croatia 24 19 
			 Cuba 32 10 
			 Cyprus 1 7 
			 Czech Republic 0 50 
			 Democratic Republic of Congo 11 0 
			 Dominica 4 3 
			 Dominican Republic 6 4 
			 Ecuador 11 2 
			 Egypt 28 15 
			 El Salvador 2 0 
			 Equatorial Guinea 1 0 
			 Eritrea 0 2 
			 Estonia 0 16 
			 Ethiopia 9 8 
			 Fiji 3 0 
			 Gabon 1 0 
			 Gambia 9 6 
			 Georgia 4 0 
			 Ghana 17 12 
			 Grenada 6 0 
			 Guatemala 2 0 
			 Guinea 3 1 
			 Guinea-Bissau 2 2 
			 Guyana 12 3 
			 Haiti 1 0 
			 Honduras 3 0 
			 Hong Kong 21 2 
			 Hungry 0 44 
			 India 466 327 
			 Indonesia 32 32 
			 Iran 40 9 
			 Iraq 10 3 
			 Israel 72 28 
			 Ivory Coast 6 2 
			 Jamaica 19 16 
			 Japan 217 120 
			 Jordan 3 1 
			 Kazakhstan 31 29 
			 Kenya 22 19 
			 Korea (North) 1 0 
			 Kyrgyzstan 11 8 
			 Laos 5 3 
			 Latvia 1 0 
			 Lebanon 11 3 
			 Lesotho 2 0 
			 Liberia 2 1 
			 Libya 12 0 
			 Lithuania 0 13 
			 Macau 4 0 
			 Macedonia 5 6 
			 Madagascar 2 0 
			 Malawi 11 0 
			 Malaysia 55 31 
			 Maldives 1 0 
			 Mali 1 1 
			 Mauritania 2 0 
			 Mauritius 13 13 
			 Mexico 55 22 
			 Moldova 28 13 
			 Mongolia 4 1 
			 Morocco 42 20 
			 Mozambique 1 2 
			 Namibia 9 0 
			 Nepal 17 1 
			 New Zealand 67 76 
			 Nicaragua 2 0 
			 Niger 1 0 
			 Nigeria 37 12 
			 None 2 0 
			 Oman 1 1 
			 Pakistan 273 337 
			 Palestinian Authority 3 0 
			 Panama 5 0 
			 Papua New Guinea 1 0 
			 Paraguay 3 0 
			 Peru 43 2 
			 Philippines 302 185 
			 Poland 0 73 
			 Qatar 0 1 
			 Refugee (Art 1 1951 Convention) 0 0 
			 Romania 124 61 
			 Russia 417 254 
			 Rwanda 1 0 
			 Sao Tome and Principe 0 0 
			 Senegal 5 0 
			 Seychelles 11 0 
			 Sierra Leone 2 7 
			 Singapore 18 26 
			 Slovakia 0 88 
			 Slovenia 0 2 
			 Somalia 3 0 
			 South Africa 202 67 
			 South Korea 34 18 
			 Sri Lanka 13 7 
			 St. Kitts and Nevis 2 1 
			 St. Lucia 7 6 
			 St. Vincent 4 4 
			 Stateless (Art 1 1951 Convention) 5 1 
			 Sudan 7 1 
			 Swaziland 1 2 
			 Switzerland 0 12 
			 Syria 5 3 
			 Taiwan 34 6 
			 Tajikistan 1 0 
			 Tanzania 18 4 
			 Thailand 534 349 
			 Togo 3 2 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 29 9 
			 Tunisia 23 17 
			 Turkey 106 67 
			 Turkmenistan 3 0 
			 Uganda 13 6 
			 Ukraine 254 196 
			 United States 753 476 
			 Unspecified Nationality 14 0 
			 Uruguay 2 0 
			 Uzbekistan 13 0 
			 Venezuela 21 0 
			 Vietnam 44 8 
			 XXH 0 3 
			 XXP 1 0 
			 Yemen 3 1 
			 Yugoslavia 55 36 
			 Zambia 7 1 
			 Zimbabwe 33 3 
			 Total 6,683 3,899 
			  Note: UKvisas makes every effort to ensure that statistics produced from our 'Central Reference System' are accurate. However, the complexity of our global business, including technical failures or occasional inconsistencies in data entry across any of over 150 offices, means we cannot 100 per cent. guarantee accuracy.  Source: CRS. Endorsement: Marriage/CP.

Fingerprints: Children

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what alternatives to a fingerprint database are being considered for children who turn 16 and already have a valid non-biometric passport; and what assessment he has made of their compliance with international requirements for biometrics on passports.

Joan Ryan: Non-biometric passports remain valid until their date of expiry. This includes passports of five year validity issued to children under the age of 16.
	International standards on passports relate only to the passport documents, not systems on which records of passports issued are held.

Identity and Passport Service

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many United States citizens are employed by the Identity and Passport Service.

Joan Ryan: The place of birth of each Identity and Passport Service (IPS) employee is not held on a database which can be interrogated in order for the IPS to supply this information.
	However, the IPS employment eligibility criteria states that posts are open to UK nationals, British protected persons, Commonwealth citizens, EEA nationals of other member states and certain EEA family members, who have no employment restriction or time limit on their permitted stay in the UK and who should also have been a resident for five years immediately preceding their application.

Identity and Passport Service: Correspondence

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will direct the Chief Executive of the Identity and Passport Service to provide  (a) substantive replies to correspondence and  (b) a response to a request for a meeting from the hon. Member for Bassetlaw in relation to his constituent, Mr. Gordon Wilson of Worksop.

Joan Ryan: holding answer 26 February 2007
	Bernard Herdan, Executive Director, Service Planning and Delivery for the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) responded substantively to the hon. Member for Bassetlaw on 23 January 2007.
	Mr. Herdan wrote to the hon. Member again on 23 February, apologising that he had not addressed directly the issue of a meeting in his earlier letter and for failing to clearly explain that, in the circumstances, he did not feel that a meeting was necessary.
	I am however happy to meet with the hon. Member if necessary. However I note that Mr. Gordon Wilson has now been issued a passport.

Illegal Drugs

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents involving the  (a) sale and  (b) use of illegal drugs on school property were reported in each (i) local education authority, (ii) London borough and (iii) regional police force in each year since 2000.

Vernon Coaker: The requested information is not available centrally.

Immigration Controls: EC Countries

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's policy is on the proposal for an enhanced role for the EU borders agency Frontex.

Liam Byrne: The Government are supportive of Frontex. Its position on the European Commission's proposal on Rapid Border Intervention Teams was stated in an Explanatory Memorandum of 7 September 2006 on Council document number 11880/06.

Immigration: EC Enlargement

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the number of nationals that have moved to the UK following the accession of the most recent members of the EU, broken down by country of origin.

Liam Byrne: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) will publish information on visits to the UK by residents from all EU countries including the A8 countries and Romania and Bulgaria (each country listed separately) in its quarterly and annual publications on overseas travel and tourism.

Internet: Fraud

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many complaints of fraud in relation to online retail websites were made in each year since 1997;
	(2)  what steps the Serious and Organised Crime Agency is taking to deal with reports of fraud in relation to online retailing;
	(3)  how many reported instances of fraud involving online retailing have been referred to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency; and what the status is of investigations in each case in which no legal proceedings are active.

Vernon Coaker: Information on the number of complaints of fraud in relation to online retail websites is not held centrally.
	Along with Class A drugs and organised immigration crime, fraud against individuals and the private sector is one of SOCA's priorities. SOCA is working collaboratively with partners to build knowledge and understanding of fraud and to align operational activity to those frauds and individuals causing the most harm to the UK.
	SOCA does not operate a formal referral process in respect of frauds SOCA works collaboratively with partners to identify and protect against those frauds and individuals causing the most harm to the UK and aligns operational activity accordingly. SOCA is unable to comment on ongoing operational activity. As required by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, SOCA will issue an annual report as soon as possible after the end of financial year 2006-07. This report will cover all SOCA's functions.
	The Home Office is represented on an industry-led steering group which aims to tackle 'Card Not Present' (CNP) fraud (which includes fraud over the internet). We support practical measures being introduced by the industry to increase levels of security for internet transactions. These include address verification services (AVS) and card security code (CSC), along with Mastercard secure code and Verified by Visa which require password verification for internet transactions.

Mobile Phone Use

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many  (a) prosecutions were brought against and  (b) fixed penalty notices were imposed on drivers in each police authority area using mobile phones while driving in 2005;
	(2)  what the  (a) maximum,  (b) minimum and  (c) average penalty imposed for driving while using a hand-held mobile phone was in each month in 2005.

Vernon Coaker: 2005 data will be available later this year.

National Identity Register

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to charge  (a) accredited organisations and  (b) other Government Departments for identity checking services via the National Identity Register.

John Reid: It is the Government's intention to fund the National Identity Scheme primarily through fee income for the products and services that arise from the scheme. This may include fees for use of identity verification services.
	However, the level of fee and the way it is charged, depends on a number of factors: (a) the final cost of providing such services, as determined in procurement negotiations with suppliers (b) the particular type(s) of identity verification service used and (c) the approval of schedule of fees for the scheme by Parliament.

Offenders: Deportation

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners who have  (a) reached the end of their sentence and  (b) not reached the end of their sentence were detained in immigration detention centres on the last date for which information is available.

John Reid: The Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on 19 February 2007, providing a snapshot of the number of time-served foreign national prisoners who are awaiting deportation in both the IND Removals Estate and in prisons. A copy of this letter has been placed in the Library of the House.

Offenders: Deportation

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many cases in which a foreign national was to be deported due to a conviction in the UK were delayed following completion of the prison term where the foreign national was  (a) contesting and  (b) not contesting the deportation in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what the average length of time between the completion of the prison sentence and deportation from the UK, where a foreign national was deported due to a conviction in the UK, has been in the last five years;
	(3)  what the  (a) longest and  (b) shortest period of time has been between the completion of the prison sentence and deportation from the UK where a foreign national is to be deported due to a conviction in the UK in the last five years.

John Reid: The requested information is not available and could be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records only at disproportionate cost.
	On 19 February the Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the Home Affairs Committee to provide the most recent information available on the deportation of foreign national prisoners. A copy of this letter is available from the Library of the House.

Offenders: Deportation

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign nationals who have served a prison sentence in the UK and are awaiting deportation have made a complaint regarding the length of time between completion of the prison sentence and deportation;
	(2)  how many complaints his Department has received regarding the Criminal Casework Team in each of the last five years; and how many of these resulted in alterations to the Team.

John Reid: This information is not collected in the format requested and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Offenders: Deportation

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals are awaiting deportation due to having committed a criminal offence in the UK and following completion of their prison term.

John Reid: On 19 February the Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the Home Affairs Committee. In this letter the Director General reported that approximately 1,300 time-served foreign nationals are currently in both the IND Removals Estate and in prisons while IND pursues deportation action against them. A copy of this letter is available from the Library of the House.

Offenders: Deportation

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the average cost of transportation, including security and all other related costs, is for deporting a foreign national who is being deported following a conviction in the UK if the deportation is successful;
	(2)  what costs of transportation, including security and all other related costs, of foreign nationals who are being deported due to having committed a criminal offence are irrecoverable where the deportation is  (a) rescheduled and  (b) cancelled.

John Reid: We do not differentiate between the cost of deporting ex-foreign national prisoners and other detainees so the information requested is not readily discernible.
	The information requested could be obtained only by examination of individual records to establish whether the person had committed a criminal offence at disproportionate cost.

Offenders: Deportation

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many attempted deportations of foreign nationals who have served prison sentences in the UK have had to be rescheduled in the last five years.

John Reid: This information is not collected in the format requested and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost through a manual search of individual case records.

Offenders: Deportation

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which 10 causes of delay to deportation are the most frequent where a foreign national offender is to be deported following a conviction in the UK; and what steps his Department has taken to tackle them.

John Reid: The Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Lin Homer, wrote to the Home Affair Committee on 19 February 2007 to provide the most recent information available on the deportation of foreign national prisoners.
	In her letter, the Director General outlined the factors that have contributed to delays in deportation and new strategy which has been put in place to ensure that the deportation system is as robust and swift as possible. A copy of this letter is available from the Library of the House.

Offenders: Deportation

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost per day is of detaining a foreign national awaiting deportation following a conviction in the UK.

John Reid: The average daily cost of detaining a person in an immigration removal centre is £116.

Offenders: Deportation

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost of detaining foreign nationals awaiting deportation following a conviction in the UK was in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

John Reid: We do not differentiate between the cost of detaining foreign nationals awaiting deportation following a conviction in the UK and other detainees so the information requested is not readily discernible.
	The information requested could be obtained only by examination of individual records to establish whether the person had committed a criminal offence at disproportionate cost.

Offenders: Deportation

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what facilities are being used to house the foreign nationals convicted of a crime in the UK prior to their deportation.

John Reid: The Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Lin Homer, wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on 19 February 2007 to provide the most recent information available on the deportation of foreign national prisoners. In her letter, the Director General set out that prior to removal, foreign national prisoners are housed in both the IND Removals Estate and in prisons. A copy of this letter is available from the Library of the House.

Offenders: Deportation

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the foreign nationals awaiting deportation have been held in prison in England and Wales for up to  (a) one month,  (b) six months and  (c) 12 months after the end of the sentence handed down by the court to them.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 2 March 2007
	The Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on 19 February 2007, providing the most accurate and robust information currently available on the detention of time-served foreign national prisoners. A copy of this letter has been placed in the Library of the House.

Open Prisons: Drugs

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were found to be in possession of narcotics in each open prison in each of the last five years.

John Reid: The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain this information, for the period requested, would be at disproportionate cost.

Passports

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the likely lifespan of the information chip in the new passport.

Joan Ryan: The Identity and Passport Service believe that the lifespan of the chip in the e-passport will match the full 10-year validity period of the e-passport, assuming the passport is subject to normal usage and levels of "wear and tear".

Passports

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether first-time passport applicants will be reimbursed for the cost of travelling to and from an Authentication by Interview centre.

Joan Ryan: The Government do not propose to offer financial help to those customers attending a passport interview. Interview arrangements and office locations have been designed to keep the cost of attending as low as possible.

Police: North Wales

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces use roads located in the North Wales police area for the purposes of police driver training.

Vernon Coaker: This is an operational matter for the police and my Department does not keep information on such use of the roads. I understand from North Wales police that their Driving School provides training to a number of other forces. They are also aware that a number of other police forces use roads in the area for police driver training. They do not however keep records of or monitor such usage.

Police: Pay

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact on Criminal Investigation Department officers of the abolition of the plain clothes allowance in 2004.

Tony McNulty: Plain clothes allowance was paid at an annual rate to officers below the rank of assistant chief constable who were required for a continuous period of not less than a week to do duty in plain clothes. From April 2003 the annual rate was £129. An officer below the rank of superintendent who was required to perform duties in plain clothes for not less than 40 hours in any six month period was paid a plain clothes allowance for these duties at an hourly rate of 6.5p. The rates payable from April 2003 were half those paid in the preceding year and entitlement to a plain clothes allowance ceased entirely with effect from 31 March 2004. No assessment has been made of the cessation of this allowance.

Police: Pensions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 31 January 2007,  Official Report, column 363-64W, on police force pensions, from which Government fund shortfalls in police authorities' funds are topped up.

Tony McNulty: The Home Office top-up payments are classed as annually managed expenditure (AME) and do not come within departmental expenditure limits (DEL). These arrangements are similar to those used by other unfunded public service pension schemes, for example those for teachers, civil servants and NHS staff. As part of the transition to the new system of financing police pensions, adjustments have been made to the level of Government funding through police grant so that no disadvantage arises at the point of change to the police, local or national taxpayers.

Prisons: Television

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason  (a) television and  (b) satellite television subscription services are provided to inmates in prison and detention facilities; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The provision of television in prison, along with other forms of media, enables prisoners to remain in touch with events in the outside world which forms an important part of the rehabilitation process.
	Television in cells is an integral part of the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme operated by all prisons. Prisoners who are on the basic level of the scheme do not have access to televisions. A small number of prisons provide satellite subscription services in association area.

Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects measures in section 35 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 to come into force.

Vernon Coaker: We propose to lay an order commencing this provision shortly.

Work Permits: Doctors

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-European economic area national  (a) junior doctors and  (b) qualified doctors (i) were granted a work permit between July 2005 and February 2006 and (ii) have been granted such a permit since July 2006.

John Reid: Management information does not allow for data to be broken down into the categories of 'junior doctors' and 'qualified doctors'. The number of approved applications recorded under the occupation category of "Doctor" is as follows:
	
		
			  July to February each year:  Approvals 
			 2005-06 2,558 
			 2006-07 1,315 
		
	
	The figures provided are not national statistics but are based on provisional management information and may be subject to change.
	Other similar occupation categories for health professionals, e.g. senior house officer, specialist registrar, etc, are not included in the figures provided.

HEALTH

NHS Dentistry

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment she has made of the level of access to NHS dentistry.

Rosie Winterton: Access to NHS dentistry is increasing—in April 2006, primary care trusts had commissioned 75 million annual units of dental activity; by January 2007 that had increased to 78.4 million

Children's National Service Framework

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in improving outcomes for disabled children in the ways described by standard 8 of the children's national service framework.

Ivan Lewis: We are making good progress as we enter the second year of the 10-year framework to improve outcomes for disabled children. Our achievements include: £27 million investment in palliative care over the next three years, we are carrying out a radical review of the provision of community equipment and wheelchair services and investing in the development of an audit tool to assist the health service and local authorities to assess progress in implementing standard 8 of the national standard framework.

NHS Finance

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on NHS financial performance in the year 2006-07.

Andy Burnham: I refer the hon. Member to the national health service finance report for the third quarter of 2006-07 which we published on 20 February.
	This report shows that the NHS as a whole remains on course to deliver net financial balance by the end of this current financial year, and continues to perform well against key service targets.

NHS Finance

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if she will make a statement on NHS financial performance in 2006-07.

Andy Burnham: I refer the hon. Member to the national health service finance report for the third quarter of 2006-07 which we published on 20 February.
	This report shows that the NHS as a whole remains on course to deliver net financial balance by the end of this current financial year, and continues to perform well against key service targets.

Maternity Services

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the outcome of the review of maternity services.

Ivan Lewis: We will be publishing a framework document to support the delivery of choice in maternity services shortly.

GP Practices: Dispensing

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the ability of GP practices in rural areas to dispense medication; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The current review of pharmaceutical services, which includes dispensing by general practitioners, is looking at how we can provide local, high quality services. The review is scheduled to report by the end March and will contribute to a public consultation later in the spring.

Local Involvement Network

Jeremy Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what consultation exercises she has undertaken to assess levels of public support for local involvement networks.

Rosie Winterton: The decision to establish LINKs resulted from listening to stakeholders and members of the public during the review of patient and public involvement.
	The Department sought views from stakeholders and the public on the proposals for LINKs set out in 'A stronger local voice', published in July 2006.

Carers

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what action her Department is taking to improve advice and support for those with caring responsibilities.

Ivan Lewis: We recently announced the New Deal for Carers, a package of support including £25 million for short breaks for carers in crisis situations in every council; £3 million towards a national helpline for carers; and £5 million for an experts carers programme. The Chancellor has also announced we will be holding the most far-reaching national consultation ever on the role of carers. In the months ahead we will invite carers' groups and the voluntary sector to help us design a modern vision for caring.

Bank Nurses

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures she has considered to reduce the use of bank nurses in the NHS; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: No measures have been considered to reduce the use of bank staff. Bank staff perform an important function in the national health service by providing a flexible workforce. Bank working can also provide a good work life balance for staff. A recent report by the National Audit Office shows that bank nurses provide better value for money than agency nurses.

Organ Transplants

Anthony D Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people died while on waiting lists for organ transplants in each year since 2001.

Rosie Winterton: Tragically 2,761 people died while listed for an organ transplant since 2001. 451 people in 2001, 427 in 2002, 485 in 2003, 455 in 2004, 495 in 2005, and 448 people in 2006. I have put a table in the Library showing the breakdown by organ
	
		
			  Number of patients dying 2001-06 while listed for an organ transplant, UK. 
			  Organ awaited  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Kidney 253 260 303 293 286 261 
			 Pancreas — — 2 1 2 — 
			 Kidney/pancreas 6 5 6 8 16 9 
			 Heart 35 19 17 21 23 29 
			 Lung(s) 64 57 65 53 66 50 
			 Heart/lungs 32 26 20 14 9 8 
			 Liver 61 60 72 65 93 91 
			 Total 451 427 485 455 495 448

Obesity

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to tackle obesity in adults and children.

Caroline Flint: We are totally committed to tackling obesity, working in partnership nationally and locally. We have set ourselves a public service agreement target to halt the year on year rise in obesity among children aged under 11 by 2010 in the context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole.

Work-based Learning

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure that NHS staff have opportunities for work-based learning.

Rosie Winterton: The national health service has received unprecedented levels of investment in recent years. This has allowed the NHS to invest heavily in training and development opportunities for all staff.
	Employers have a duty to ensure staff have the appropriate education and training including work-based learning to support priorities and deliver services.

Acute Services

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on proposed changes to acute NHS services in England.

Andy Burnham: Any proposals for changes to services are a matter for the national health service locally. There is a well established and well understood process for managing consultations on such changes so that patients, the public and local stakeholders can help to inform the local debate.

Asthma: Medical Equipment

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to replace chlorofluorocarbon-based asthma inhalers with CFC-free version for patients over the age of 12.

Caroline Flint: The transfer of patients to chlorofluorocarbon-free (CFC) metered dose inhalers (MDIs) began in 1995 when the first one was licensed for use in the United Kingdom. Many more have been introduced to the market since that time.
	The Government's plan for phasing out CFCs in asthma inhalers is set out in the UK Transition Strategy for CFC-based MDIs, which was developed after consultation with all relevant stakeholders and published by the Department and the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions in 1999. It was communicated widely to health care professionals in the national health service, patient groups and patients at that time.
	The Department and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs continue to actively pursue the phase-out of CFCs in MDIs in accordance with the UK Transition Strategy. In February 2007, the UK declared CFCs to be non-essential for four of the six drug categories set out in this strategy.

Audiology: Eastern Region

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the average waiting time was for each primary care trust in  (a) East of England Strategic Health Authority and  (b) South Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust for audiology-related treatment in the last period for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many patients were waiting for audiology-related treatment in  (a) East of England Strategic Health Authority and  (b) South Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust in the last period for which figures are available.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not held centrally.

Blood: Cholesterol

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the 11 spearhead areas in London towards  (a) better detection and  (b) more treatment of (i) high blood pressure and (ii) high blood cholesterol levels.

Rosie Winterton: The new general medical services (GMS) contract specification encourages primary care practices to identify and treat patients with high blood pressure and to test and control cholesterol levels in patients with coronary heart disease, diabetes or stroke. The tables show the number of available points achieved against these indicators demonstrating that general practitioner practices are making good progress of improving these detection and treatment rates.
	The applicable quality and outcomes framework (QOF) data has been placed in the Library.

Blood: Cholesterol

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what account was taken of NHS guidelines on blood cholesterol levels in Scotland when setting those for England.

Rosie Winterton: The Department's policy on cholesterol levels is set out in the national service framework (NSF) for coronary heart disease (CHD). The NSF for CHD set cholesterol levels taking into account the Joint British Societies' recommendations reported in 1998, as well as the Scottish report "Secondary prevention clinics for coronary heart disease: randomised trial of effect on health" written by Campbell, Thain, Deans et al. which detailed emerging evidence in 1998.

Carers: Grants

David Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what her Department's  (a) plans and  (b) projected budget are for the carer's grant in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many carers of older people had short breaks funded by the carer's grant in  (a) 2002,  (b) 2003,  (c) 2004 ,  (d) 2005 and  (e) 2006;
	(3)  how her Department monitors local authorities' spending of the carer's grant.

Ivan Lewis: Decisions about the future of the carers grant in the next spending review period will be taken later this year.
	Sustaining carers' support will be ensured through the existing system for monitoring councils' performance by the Commission for Social Care Inspection.
	The number of carers for older people receiving breaks services through the carers grant in England are shown in the table. Figures for 2002-03 are not available.
	
		
			   Number 
			 2003-04 72,901 
			 2004-05 73,946 
			 2005-06 96,758 
			  Source:  2005-06 adults delivery and improvement statement—Commission for Social Care Inspection.

Community Hospitals: Hartlepool

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the process is for applying to her Department's community hospital and services programme to build a community hospital in Hartlepool constituency.

Andy Burnham: The process for applying for funding from the community hospital and services programme is as follows:
	Primary care trusts interested in applying for funding should, as a first step, and in partnership with their local practice based commissioners, local community and stakeholders develop or review current plans for community services (including existing community hospitals) against the design principles, as set out in "Our health, our care, our community: investing in the future of community hospitals and services".
	PCTs should then submit their proposals to their respective strategic health authorities (SHAs).
	The SHAs will assess the bids submitted, and check that they meet local need, demonstrate value for money, and meet with their strategic priorities. Those that satisfy these criteria, will then be passed on to the Department for further consideration.

Contraceptives

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to promote awareness of long acting contraceptives; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Government recognise the importance of women having access to the full range of contraceptive methods. A guideline has been developed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs) and this emphasized the cost effectiveness of currently available LARC methods.
	We will be issuing best practice guidance on reproductive healthcare this spring which will include further guidance on improving access to LARCs.

Dental Services

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate her Department has made of the number of people requiring access to NHS dentistry to whom it is unavailable.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 6 March 2007
	The Department estimates that there are some two million people in England who would like to access national health service dental services but are unable to do so. This estimate predates the dental reforms introduced in April 2006.
	The reforms have for the first time give primary care trusts (PCTs) direct control of resources for commissioning local dental services. PCTS are also now responsible for assessing local needs and developing services to reflect these needs. In Cumbria, for example, the local NHS has undertaken considerable work to assess oral health needs and reflect these in its commissioning programme, which has recently included establishing a new practice for some 2,500 NHS patients in Windermere.

Dental Services: East Yorkshire

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many spare units of dental activity there were in East Yorkshire each month since the introduction of the new dental contract; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Under the new dental contracts introduced in April 2006, dental practices provide an agreed level of national health service services over the course of each year. Annual service levels are measured using a weighted indicator of courses of treatment, known as units of dental activity. There are no monthly quotas or targets for units of dental activity.
	Since the introduction of the reforms, the level of dental services commissioned by the NHS has grown steadily throughout the year, and primary care trusts are now commissioning more dental services than were provided in 2005-06.

Depression

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she has monitored the implementation of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines on depression; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has not directly monitored the implementation of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) clinical guidelines on depression. Healthcare organisations' compliance with NICE guidelines is part of the developmental standard D2 which is being assessed in shadow form in the Healthcare Commission's annual health check of mental health trusts in 2006-07. This means that assessment of performance against developmental standard D2 will not feed into the overall annual rating in 2006-07. However, it is expected to form part of the rating from 2007-08.
	In May 2006, the Department embarked on the improving access to psychological therapies programme which is intended to increase the availability of evidence based psychological therapies and help full implementation of the NICE clinical guidelines on depression.

Health Services: Mentally Incapacitated

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when her Department will extend the protection afforded by the Protection of Vulnerable Adults Scheme to apply to vulnerable users of NHS facilities.

Ivan Lewis: On the recommendation of the Bichard Inquiry we are introducing a new centralised vetting and barring scheme for people working with children and vulnerable people. This scheme, as set out in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, will extend the coverage of the existing barring schemes and draw on wider sources of information to provide a more comprehensive and consistent measure of protection for vulnerable groups across a wide range of settings, including the whole of social care and the national health service.
	The new scheme will be proactive, with vetting taking place on an individual's first application to work with children or vulnerable adults and will make it far more difficult for abusers to gain access to some of the most vulnerable groups in society. The new scheme will be phased in from autumn 2008.

Hospitals: Crimes of Violence

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate she has made of the cost of violent and abusive patients to West Midlands strategic health authority in terms of extra security, absenteeism, training of staff and legal bills.

Rosie Winterton: This is a matter for the relevant local national health service organisations. The NHS Security Management Service (NHS SMS) is part of the Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (CFSMS), a division of the NHS Business Service Authority, and has overall responsibility for all policy and operational matters related to the management of security in the NHS. On behalf of the Secretary of State for Health, the NHS SMS determines the policies, legal framework, operational guidance and minimum standards necessary to ensure that the objective of providing a secure environment for the NHS can be achieved. It also provides central and regional support to those charged with undertaking security management work in health bodies, so that the required standards can be met.

Insulin

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that Glockhardt UK passes its technology to another manufacturer in order to guarantee continuity of supply of animal insulins, as discussed at the meeting between Department of Health officials and key stakeholders on 17 May 2006; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what her Department's strategy is for the supply of animal insulin; when it was published; and if she will place a copy of the strategy in the Library.

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her letter to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill), dated 28 November 2006, and her letter to Earl Howe dated 10 July 2006, what her Department's insulin strategy is; when it was published; if she will place a copy of the strategy in the Library; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Department has received assurances from Wockhardt UK that if at any time in the future it decided to cease supply of its animal insulins, it would actively support another manufacturer with its licence application, sharing licence data to support it coming into the market to the best of its ability. The Department will support and facilitate this process.
	The Department's strategy for the supply of animal insulins has been placed in the Library.

Insulin

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her letter of 28 November 2006 to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst, on the strategy of supply of animal insulin, whether the provision of the option of animal insulin to patients only if considered appropriate by the health care professionals is in accordance with the Doctor-Patient Partnership outlined by the General Medical Council's new good medical practice guidelines which came into force on 13 November 2006.

Caroline Flint: All decisions about appropriate treatment regimes for people with diabetes should be made between the individual concerned and their health care professional. The choice of insulin is the result of their joint decision-making process.

Liver Diseases: Alcoholic Drinks

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many diagnoses of alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver there were in each of the last 10 years, broken down by age.

Caroline Flint: Information regarding the number of diagnoses of alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver is collected centrally only for individuals suffering from this condition in secondary (for example, hospital) care. The information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  All diagnoses count of episodes for alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver, 1996-97 to 2005-06—national health service hospitals: England 
			   1996-97  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01 
			 0 to five 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Five to 14 0 0 0 0 1 
			 15 to 24 6 14 7 13 11 
			 25 to 34 270 334 343 375 332 
			 35 to 44 1,320 1,520 1,495 1,671 1,827 
			 45 to 54 2,104 2,441 2,609 3,078 3,236 
			 55 to 64 1,736 2,004 2,137 2,506 2,599 
			 65 to 74 1,181 1,178 1,264 1,515 1,442 
			 75 to 84 288 362 415 468 458 
			 85 to 120 33 29 30 47 48 
			 Age not known 29 51 45 9 19 
			 Total 6,967 7,933 8,345 9,682 9,973 
		
	
	
		
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 0 to five 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Five to 14 0 0 1  1 
			 15 to 24 7 19 27 18 26 
			 25 to 34 354 399 455 550 642 
			 35 to 44 1,830 2,038 2,412 2,759 3,123 
			 45 to 54 3,437 3,823 4,380 5,024 5,961 
			 55 to 64 2,836 3,317 3,888 4,924 5,636 
			 65 to 74 1,581 2,074 2,410 2,568 2,953 
			 75 to 84 443 578 559 736 915 
			 85 to 120 46 60 52 72 89 
			 Age not known 52 35 22 33 44 
			 Total 10,586 12,343 14,206 16,684 19,390 
			  Notes: 1. Finished consultant episode (FCE) An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have one episode of care within a year. 2. All diagnoses count as episodes. These figures represent a count of all FCEs where the diagnosis was mentioned in any of the 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in a HES record. 3. K.70.3 Alcoholic cirrhosis of liver—ungrossed data: Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).  Source: Hospital episode statistics, The Information Centre for health and social care

Lyme Disease

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her answer of 30 November 2006,  Official Report, columns 916-7W, on Lyme disease, what strategies her Department has in place to deal with the increase in the number of people contracting Lyme disease.

Caroline Flint: Increases in laboratory confirmed cases have occurred due to both improved ascertainment and increased exposure to infection.
	There is now an expanded and improved repertoire of diagnostic tests that have become available in the past three years to enable rapid laboratory confirmation of diagnosis of Lyme disease.
	The Health Protection Agency (HPA) provides clinical advice to physicians who care for patients who may have Lyme disease, and has nationwide links to experts in infectious diseases, neurology, rheumatology and other specialties who have a particular interest in Lyme disease, to whom patients can be referred. The HPA takes part in national and international collaborations to improve diagnostic tests and to promote evidence based treatments.
	The HPA has raised awareness of Lyme disease through its website and through presentations to, and discussions with, professional and recreational and special interest groups. NHS Direct has published comprehensive information on the disease, including preventive measures, on its website.

Medical Training Application Service

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the projected cost was of the Medical Training Application Service at the instigation of the service; and what the latest estimate is of the cost of the service.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 9 March 2007
	The projected cost of the medical training application service at instigation was £5.8 million over five years for an England only service. Expanding to United Kingdom wide coverage and incorporating academic/specialty and general practitioner recruitment into a single, two-round recruitment exercise has slightly increased set-up costs. The projected cost of the service is now expected to be £6.3 million over five years.

NHS: Finance

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact of NHS deficits on local authority budgets.

Ivan Lewis: Delivering high quality health and social care while remaining on a sound financial footing can only be achieved by national health service bodies and local authorities working together to make best use of the available resources.
	Local area agreements are negotiated between partners to reflect local circumstances.

NHS: Procurement

Dai Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information her Department has received from NHS Supply Chain on the consideration that it gives to National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines for medical devices when procuring those items.

Andy Burnham: NHS Supply Chain has informed the NHS Business Service Authority that they place considerable emphasis on National Institute For Health And Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines when evaluating the non-financial aspect of quality in a tender evaluation to ensure that the products they offer are in line with NICE guidance.

NHS: Procurement

Dai Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the likely effect on patient access to new medical technologies of NHS supply chain's decision to designate preferred suppliers for product areas for fixed periods.

Andy Burnham: NHS supply chain does not operate a preferred suppliers list but will manage the procurement and delivery of in scope products through a formal contracting process in-line with the European Union directives. Procurements undertaken prior to the establishment of NHS supply chain were also governed by the EU directives and contracted in the same way.
	Transparency is brought to this process by publication of a procurement calendar identifying all opportunities that are available and open to supplier bids. New opportunities will be added on a regular basis. This calendar is available on the NHS supply chain website at
	www.supplychain.nhs.uk.
	NHS supply chain actively monitors the progress of new and innovative products and will work with small suppliers to ensure innovative products can be delivered at the best possible price.

NHS: Procurement

Dai Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information her Department has received from NHS supply chain about  (a) how it chooses the products included on its preferred supplier lists and  (b) how standard prices are set for these products.

Andy Burnham: The tender process which national health service supply chain use to select which suppliers should be awarded contracts is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Contracting process — steps  Key activities 
			 1. Identify customer needs  
			   
			 A. Product assessment Customer input/clinical preference determination 
			  Third-party information 
			  Manufacturer input 
			  Knowledge of product management 
			  New products/innovative technology 
			   
			 B. Market assessment Validate business opportunity 
			  Competitive analysis 
			  Supplier assessment meetings 
			  Capabilities, technology, breadth of line, value beyond price, strategic direction 
			   
			 C. Customer market research Quantitative survey (valid sample) 
			  Key decision-makers 
			  Preferences/acceptability 
			  Consider procurement rivers and timescales 
			  Price/usage 
			  Supplier comparison 
			  Input on tender specifications 
			   
			 D. Choose the most appropriate procurement procedure Consider procurement rivers and timescales 
			   
			 2. Tender development Finalise decision criteria award matrix 
			  Follow formal procedures of the tendering process 
			  Define product line 
			  Determine final product and performance specifications 
			  Send to all eligible tenderers 
			   
			   
			 3. Tender analysis Determine total delivered cost and quality available 
			  Compare among tender respondents 
			   
			 4. Issue resolution/clarification Clarify terms and conditions to tender responses 
			  Discuss enhancements 
			  Focus on value for money 
			  Develop implementation plan 
			  Finalise supplier agreement 
			   
			 5. Decision making Determine low best tender based on decision criteria award matrix 
			  Consider needs, market assessment and market research 
			  Involve councils, task forces and customers as necessary 
			  Make award recommendation pending issue resolution 
			  Notify all tenderers of decision 
			   
			 6. Finalising the award Finalise supplier agreement 
			  Prepare executive summary package 
			  Draft contract summary 
			  Begin contract approval process 
			   
			 7. Launching the agreement Notify all tenderers of decision 
			  Inform customers of decision 
			  Develop customer-focused marketing and communications plan in collaboration with supplier 
			  Complete and distribute contract summary to customers and logistics 
			  Perform sales training and targeting 
			   
			 8. Records retention Provide legal department with original signed copy of agreement 
		
	
	Standard prices for products are set based on the product cost and a margin applied to these products to cover the operating costs of NHS supply chain. There are restrictions as to how margin can be applied and also restrictions to increases in sell price changes.

NHS: Reform

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to publish further reports on the clinical case for change in the NHS along the lines of those published by  (a) the National Directors for Heart Disease and Emergency Case on 5 December 2006,  (b) the National Director for Primary Care on 5 February 2007 and  (c) the National Director for Maternity and Children's Services on 6 February 2007.

Andy Burnham: These are personal reports from the national clinical directors. The remaining clinical directors may wish to present their own accounts of the clinical case for change to the Secretary of State in due course.

Obesity: Children

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to tackle childhood obesity.

Caroline Flint: We are committed to tackling obesity, working in partnership nationally and locally. We have set ourselves a public service agreement target to halt the year-on-year rise in obesity among children aged under 11 by 2010 in the context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole.
	We have improved the co-ordinated delivery of initiatives that contribute to tackling childhood obesity, including working with Ofcom who have recently announced limits on broadcast advertising and promotion of high fat, salt, sugar foods to children, healthy schools, and the national school sport strategy, influencing the curriculum and standards for early years settings. We have also published care pathways for national health service primary care professionals and a self-help guide for patients to help with weight loss.
	Our investments have already delivered improvements, for example, free fruit to nearly 2 million four to six-year-olds at English schools; a reformed scheme for families on benefits that will give them access to free vitamins and a choice of fruit, vegetables or milk; 80 per cent. of schoolchildren now doing at least two hours of school sport a week, beating our own target of 75 per cent. for this year; and three quarters of schools are on the healthy schools programme.

Organs: Donors

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to promote organ donation; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Over 14 million people have registered on the Organ Donor Register (ODR), which represents approximately 23 per cent. of the United Kingdom population. The Department gives around £1 million yearly to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to run the ODR and to promote transplantation. The Department also provides section 64 grants to a number of charities.
	Over the last five years, the Department has provided dedicated funding—over £4 million in 2006-07—through NHSBT to support a number of specific hospital based initiatives to increase organ donor rates and support transplantation
	An organ donation task force is currently identifying barriers to organ donation and will report later this year on what further steps could be taken to increase organ donation rates.

Patient Choice Schemes

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how the  (a) budgets and  (b) tariffs of the choose and book initiative were set; and what mechanisms are in place (i) to monitor, (ii) audit and (iii) and assess by (A) primary care trusts and (B) the Department;
	(2)  what  (a) budgets have been set and  (b) costs have been incurred for the choice and choose and book systems by each (i) primary care trust, (ii) acute trust and (iii) strategic health authority since its implementation.

Andy Burnham: The setting of local budgets and the monitoring of local costs for the implementation of choice and choose and book is a matter for local determination.

Patient Choice Schemes

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what mechanisms are in place to assess the value for money achieved by  (a) Choose and Book,  (b) Choice and  (c) whole direct enhanced service system;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of  (a) whether the significant benefits referred to in the answer of 13 June 2006,  Official Report, columns 1153-54W, on the choose and book system, have been delivered and  (b) the value for money provided by the choose and book system.

Andy Burnham: Work is under way in response to the recommendation in the National Audit Office's June 2006 report "Department of Health: The National Programme for IT in the NHS" that an annual statement be published, quantifying the benefits delivered by all aspects of the programme, set against the costs incurred. The first statement is intended for publication in summer 2007.
	A new independent research programme will be established this year to evaluate the impact of health reform, including choice, and feed into future policy development. In addition, regulatory and equality impact assessments are being carried out on choice policy in elective care.
	There are no plans for a value for money study in respect of directed enhanced services.

Sunbeds: Licensing

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which local authorities have licensing policies covering sunbed use in salons.

Caroline Flint: There are no central governmental records held on the local authorities that have licensing policies covering sunbed use in salons.

Water

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if she will commission research into the optimum proportion of the daily recommended intake of fluids which should be taken as water;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the extent to which the public follow the Government's guidelines on how much water to drink; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Government advise that six to eight glasses (approximately 1.2 litres) of water, or other fluids, should be consumed every day to prevent dehydration. This is based on physiological studies.
	The 2000-01 National Diet and Nutrition Survey of adults aged 19-64 years showed that mean consumption of fluid in this age group was around 1.8 litres per day. This includes milk, fruit juice, soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, tea, coffee and water (tap and bottled).

Welfare Milk

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what  (a) representations and  (b) other information she has received on the financial impact on nurseries and playgroups suffering from delayed payments for reimbursement of the cost of milk from the Welfare Food Reimbursement Unit;
	(2)  what value of claims by nurseries or playgroups for reimbursement of the cost of milk from the Welfare Food Reimbursement Unit are awaiting payment; and what the average value was of claims outstanding at any one time in 2006;
	(3)  how many claims by nurseries and playgroups for reimbursement of the cost of milk from the Welfare Food Reimbursement Unit are awaiting payment; and how many were awaiting payment at any one time on average in 2006.

Caroline Flint: On 27 February 2007 there were 5,018 outstanding claims for payment from nurseries and other day care providers relating to milk supplied through the Welfare Food Scheme. The total value of the claims was £1,310,105. Of these, 3,712 (£780,374) were claims for payments to be made by cheque, and the remainder were for payments directly made to bank accounts.
	Because of a change in contractor on 1 December 2006, it has taken longer than we would have wished for claims from nurseries and other day care providers to be processed. Those wishing to be paid by cheque have experienced longer delays because the new contractor had to wait for secure cheque stationery to be printed. That stationery has now been printed and the backlog of cheque payments was cleared by 1 March 2007.
	Currently, payments in respect of new claims are being made within 15 days of receipt. From 9 March 2007, we expect this to reduce to eight days. Claims that are complicated—usually because not all required information has been provided—take longer to resolve.
	Details of the number and value of claims awaiting payment at any one time during 2006 is not available due to the change in contractor.
	I have received one representation on behalf of a nursery, concerned about the way with which its outstanding claims were being dealt.

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust: Acute Beds

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received from West Hertfordshire NHS Trust on the relocation of acute services.

Andy Burnham: No such representations have been received.